Background: Botrytis cinerea (B. cinerea) is responsible for grape infection and damage to the winemaking and table grape sectors. Although anti-Botrytis chemicals are available, they are considered unsustainable for resistance phenomenon and adverse effects on the environment and human health. Research is focused on developing alternative approaches, such as exploiting biological control agents (BCAs). In this context, 19 yeasts of the genera Cryptococcus, Aureobasidium, Metschnikowia, Kluyveromyces and Wickerhamomyces were tested as antimicrobial agents against B. cinerea development.
Methods: A combination of in vitro tests based on dual-culture methods, volatile organic compound production assay, laboratory tests on grape berries (punctured and sprayed with yeasts) and field experiments based on yeast treatments on grapes in vineyards allowed the selection of two potential BCAs.
Results: M. pulcherrima DiSVA 269 and A. pullulans DiSVA 211 exhibited the best ability to contain the development of B. cinerea, showing the severity, the decay and the McKinney index lower than a commercial biological formulation consisting of a mixture of two different A. pullulans strains, which were used as positive controls.
Conclusions: The results indicated that the selected strains were effective BCA candidates to counteract B. cinerea in the field, applying them in the partial or total replacement of conventional treatments.
Keywords: A. pullulans; M. pulcherrima; bioactive yeasts; biocontrol; gray mold.