New insights for diagnosis of Pineapple Fusariosis by MALDI-TOF MS technique

Fusarium is one of the most economically important fungal genus, since it includes many pathogenic species which cause a wide range of plant diseases. Morphological or molecular biology identification of Fusarium species is a limiting step in the fast diagnosis and treatment of plant disease caused by these fungi. Mass spectrometry by matrix-assisted laser/desorption ionisation-time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF)-based fingerprinting approach was applied to the fungal growth monitoring and direct detection of strain Fusarium guttiforme E-480 inoculated in both pineapple cultivars Pérola and Imperial side shoots, that are susceptible and resistant, respectively, to this fungal strain. MALDI-TOF MS technique was capable to detect fungal molecular mass peaks in the susceptible pineapple stem side shoot tissue. It is assumed that these molecular masses are mainly constituted by ribosomal proteins. MALDI-TOF-based fingerprinting approach has herein been demonstrated to be sensitive and accurate for the direct detection of F. guttiforme E-480 molecular masses on both susceptible and resistant pineapple side stem free of any pre-treatment. According to the results obtained, the changing on molecular mass peaks of infected susceptible pineapple tissue together with the possibility of fungal molecular masses analysis into this pineapple tissue can be a good indication for an early diagnosis by MALDI-TOF MS of pineapple fusariosis

MALDI-TOF MS to identify the pineapple pathogen Fusarium guttiforme and its antagonist Trichoderma asperellum on decayed pineapple

Matrix-assisted laser desorption⁄ionisation time-of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has been used to identify some Fusarium and Trichoderma species, but early detection of fungal diseases by this technique has not yet been fully addressed. In this study, MALDI-TOF MS was tested to identify F. guttiforme on pineapple side shoots in situ. The efficacy of filamentous fungi for controlling fungal diseases is well documented. However, there is uncertainty whether the biocontrol agent is out growing the pathogen sufficiently to be identified. In this paper, a multistep identification of a plant pathogen (F. guttiforme) and its antagonist (T. asperellum) using MALDI-TOF MS is demonstrated.Brazilian Collection of Environmental and Industrial Microorganisms/University of Campinas (CBMAI, Brazil) for Trichoderma isolates and to Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq, Brazil), and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Espírito Santo (FAPES, ES, Brazil) for the funding received