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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbial Symbioses
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1508519

Tomato rot by Rhizopus microsporus alters native fungal community composition and secondary metabolite production

Provisionally accepted
Mmanoko Napo Mmanoko Napo 1Alicia Kock Alicia Kock 1Kazeem Alayande Kazeem Alayande 1MIchael Sulyok MIchael Sulyok 2Chibundu Ngozi Ezekiel Chibundu Ngozi Ezekiel 3Jessie Uehling Jessie Uehling 4Teresa E. Pawlowska Teresa E. Pawlowska 5Rasheed Adeleke Rasheed Adeleke 1*
  • 1 North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa
  • 2 Feed and Food Quality, Safety and Innovation GmbH, Technopark 1D, Tulln, Austria, Tulln, Austria
  • 3 Institute of Bioanalytics and Agro-Metabolomics, Department of Agrobiotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Tulln, Austria., Tulln, Austria
  • 4 Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, United States
  • 5 School of Integrative Plant Science, Plant Pathology & Plant-Microbe Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Rhizopus rot is considered one of the most common diseases influencing global production and yield of horticulture commodities. However, the factors contributing to this pattern of prevalence are uncertain. Here, we focused on R. microsporus, which is known to rely on its endosymbiotic bacterium, Mycetohabitans, to produce toxins that interfere with plant development and inhibit the growth of other fungi. We assessed the impact of the symbiotic R. microsporus harbouring its endosymbiont as well as the fungus cured of it on: (1) the magnitude of spoilage in tomato fruits, as evaluated by Koch's postulate for pathogenicity, (2) the shifts in native communities of endophytic fungi inhabiting these fruits, as examined by ITS rRNA gene metabarcoding and (3) secondary metabolites generated by these communities, as analysed using multi-analyte LC-MS/MS. The pathogenicity test showed that the symbiotic endobacterium-containing R. microsporus W2-50 was able to cause tomato fruit spoilage. This was accompanied by decreased relative abundance of Alternaria spp. and an increase in the relative abundance of Penicillium spp. that may have facilitated the observed spoilage. In conclusion, symbiotic W2-50 appeared to facilitate fruit spoilage, possibly through successful colonisation or toxin production by its endosymbiont.• Rhizopus microsporus harbouring endobacteria might be responsible for tomato spoilage • Symbiotic R. microsporus W2-50 causes fungal community shifts that favour fruit spoilage • Secondary metabolite levels do not necessarily reflect spoilage

    Keywords: Fungal community shift, Mycetohabitans endofungorum, secondary metabolites, Rhizopus microsporus, spoilage

    Received: 09 Oct 2024; Accepted: 02 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Napo, Kock, Alayande, Sulyok, Ezekiel, Uehling, Pawlowska and Adeleke. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Rasheed Adeleke, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa

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