Important fungal diseases observed in apple warehouses in Karaman and their biological control

Karaman province has an important place in our country in terms of apple production as well as storage. Alternative control efforts to chemical applications for fungal diseases encountered during apple storage are gaining momentum. In this study, fungal diseases observed in apples in Karaman province cold storages were detected and biological control was investigated with epiphytic antagonist agents isolated from apples against the most common pathogen. For this purpose, surveys were carried out in cold storages in 2018-2019. Penicillium spp. was the most frequently encountered agent among the agents isolated from rotten fruits taken from storages, followed by Botrytis cinerea and Alternaria alternata. Penicillium species were identified morphologically and were determined to be P. digitatum, P. expansum and P. italicum. The species was confirmed by molecular identification with sequence analysis based on ITS and β-tubulin genomic regions. The epiphytic antagonists used in the study were isolated from apples taken from cold storage and their in vitro activities against these three pathogens were determined. Two epiphytic antagonists that were found to be effective against all three pathogens were selected, identified as Aureobasidium pullulans and Pantoea agglomerans, and the effectiveness of the antagonists was evaluated in vivo studies. Although A. pullulans is effective against three Penicillium species, no statistical difference was observed in preventing lesion development. P. agglomerans was more successful in reducing the lesion diameter of P. italicum. As a result in vivo experiments, it was concluded that A. pullulans was more successful in reducing the lesion diameter caused by Penicillium species on fruit.