摘要: Fruit diseases caused by postharvest fungal infections bring about significant losses to fruit farmers and traders. Green mold caused by Penicillium digitatum is particularly troublesome because it is responsible for up to 90% of the total citrus fruit losses post-harvest. The conventional use of chemical fungicides has significantly reduced the incidence of green mold disease and increased fruit shelf-life. However, they contaminate the environment, are a health risk to handlers and consumers, and have led to the emergence of resistant P. digitatum strains, hence complicating control of the disease. Plant essential oils and their bioactive components are thus considered better alternatives to the synthetic fungicides because they are generally safe, highly fungicidal, and with limited ability to induce drug resistance. A recent study in our laboratory showed that cuminaldehyde (CA), the major bioactive component of cumin essential oils, inhibited mycelial growth of P. digitatum to significantly delay green mold formation in citrus fruit. The fungicidal activity was due to oxidative stress characterized by accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), increased lipid peroxidation, impairment of plasma membrane permeability, and eventual cell death. This doctoral study examined the antifungal mechanism of CA against P. digitatum, and the possible strategies to enhance its fungicidal potential. The main findings are summarized under the three categories below. 1.Molecular mechanism of cuminaldehyde inhibition of P. digitatum in citrus fruits DCFH-DA staining of the CA-treated mycelia and fluorimetric method for examination of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content revealed that the contents of ROS and H2O2 began to increase at 20 min of CA treatment. Analysis of NADH oxidase (NOX) activity using a NOX assay kit showed increased activity from 10 min. Transcriptome data from RNA sequencing analysis and proteome data from iTRAQ analysis disclosed a massive downregulation of membrane proteins from 10 min of incubation. The most affected proteins were those annotated to localization and transmembrane transport, and those integral to mitochondrial electron transport chain (mETC) complexes Ⅰ, Ⅳ, Ⅴ and the intermembrane space. Catalase (CAT), regulators of transcription and DNA replication, and proteins in the pathways of reduced glutathione (GSH) metabolism and folate biosynthesis were also downregulated. Analysis of GSH content and activity of CAT confirmed that they declined from the beginning of the experiment and 10 min, respectively. RT-qPCR analysis confirmed reduced expression of XM_014683121.1 and XM_014678114.1 (CAT genes), XM_014675255.1 (glutathione reductase), XP_014538126.1, XP_014530932.1, and XP_014530928.1 (folate metabolism), XM_014679237.1 (mETC complex Ⅰ), XM_014679619.1 (MICOS complex), XM_014683512.1 (metalloendopeptidase OMA1), and several membrane transporters and regulators of transcription and translation. Reduced expression of XM_014679237.1, XM_014679619.1, and XM_014683512.1 signaled possible damage to inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM). This was confirmed by a decline in mitochondrial membrane potential and a concomitant decline in total cellular ATP levels. Analysis of complex Ⅰ activity showed an increase in the rate of dehydrogenation of NADH to NAD+ from 10 min. This time corresponded to the onset of the rise in SOD activity, confirming the release of O2·- from complex Ⅰ. Complex Ⅲ activity began to increase from 20 min and continued to the end of the experiment. The results suggest that CA treatment instigated O2·- production (initially from mETC complex Ⅰ and then complex Ⅲ and other sources) while limiting the ability of the cells to protect themselves from the accumulating ROS by reducing the expression of GSH and CAT. This was possibly achieved by downregulation of transcription and replication regulators in the biosynthetic pathways of these antioxidants. The downregulation of transcription and replication regulators may have resulted from downregulation of folate biosynthesis or direct interaction of CA with the proteins. Failure of Pds01 cells to effectively scavenge ROS (due to reduced expression of CAT and GSH) led to the accumulation of H2O2 and other derived ROS, and the associated establishment of oxidative stress. 2.Biotransformation of cuminaldehyde by P.Digitatum In this section, we examined why there was accumulation of ROS in the mycelial cells within the first 30 min, yet no visible damage was caused to P. digitatum cells. Gas chromatography (GC) analysis revealed a steady decline in content of CA as the incubation time increased. GC results also showed accumulation of two new products, which were later identified by GC-MS and LC-MS analyses as cumin alcohol and p-cymene. Transcriptome and proteome data showed that pathways associated with biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, xenobiotic degradation and metabolism, and metabolism of terpenoids were activated. 32 and 46 upregulated DEGs were annotated to pathways involving biosynthesis of secondary metabolites at 10 and 30 min, 摘要译文