Abstract
Sugar beet is an important crop for sugar production in Europe; however, the loss of sucrose during long storage periods poses a major challenge. Environmental factors coupled with the genetic makeup of the sugar beet influence its storability, with some genotypes showing greater resilience and maintaining high sugar content during storage. The pathogenic part of the plant-associated microbiome is considered one of the main causative agents. However, the same microbiome can also harbor beneficial microbes with potential biocontrol activities that positively affect storability. Despite extensive studies on pre-harvest microbiota, post-harvest microbial community dynamics and their impact on sugar beet quality remain largely unexplored. To uncover the underlying dynamics of microbial patterns associated with different storage capacities, we used 16S rRNA and ITS amplicon sequencing to analyze the bacterial and fungal communities, respectively. Four sugar beet varieties that exhibited disparate storability responses following a 12-week storage trial were investigated. This study identified temporal microbial differences and microbial markers associated with sugar beet storability. Specifically, the fungal class Saccharomycetes, along with the agonistic bacterial genus Gluconobacter , was correlated with reduced storage capacity. In contrast, good storage capacity was characterized by greater microbial diversity, including the fungal indicator taxon Plectosphaerella and the correlating Actinobacteria species. These biomarkers have the potential to be used to identify sugar beet varieties with good storability and to improve the storability of agricultural products. • Sugar beet storability is influenced by environmental and genetic factors. • Post-harvest microbial communities affect sugar beet storage quality. • Saccharomycetes-yeasts and Gluconobacter correlate with reduced storage capacity. • High microbial diversity correlates with enhanced sugar beet storage capacity. • Biomarkers can indicate healthy varieties and low sugar losses.
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Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
Post-harvest microbial communities differed over time and had markers associated with storability.
- Taxon
- sugar beet
Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgarise0 - Outcome
- temporal microbial differences and microbial markerse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“This study identified temporal microbial differences and microbial markers associated with sugar beet storability”
t0“sugar beet”
Claim · model-written summary
Saccharomycetes correlated with reduced storage capacity.
- Taxon
- sugar beetBeta vulgaris subsp. vulgarist0
- Interactor
- SaccharomycetesSaccharomycetese0other
- Outcome
- storage capacitye0
- Direction
- reducede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the fungal class Saccharomycetes, along with the agonistic bacterial genus Gluconobacter , was correlated with reduced storage capacity”
t0“sugar beet”
Claim · model-written summary
Gluconobacter correlated with reduced storage capacity.
- Taxon
- sugar beetBeta vulgaris subsp. vulgarist0
- Interactor
- Gluconobacter
Gluconobactere0other - Outcome
- storage capacitye0
- Direction
- reducede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the fungal class Saccharomycetes, along with the agonistic bacterial genus Gluconobacter , was correlated with reduced storage capacity”
t0“sugar beet”
Claim · model-written summary
Good storage capacity was characterized by greater microbial diversity.
- Taxon
- sugar beetBeta vulgaris subsp. vulgarist0
- Interactor
- microbiale0other
- Outcome
- storage capacitye0
- Direction
- greatere0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“good storage capacity was characterized by greater microbial diversity”
t0“sugar beet”
Claim · model-written summary
Plectosphaerella indicated good storage capacity.
- Taxon
- sugar beetBeta vulgaris subsp. vulgarist0
- Interactor
- PlectosphaerellaPlectosphaerellae0other
- Outcome
- good storage capacitye0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“good storage capacity was characterized by greater microbial diversity, including the fungal indicator taxon Plectosphaerella and the correlating Actinobacteria species”
t0“sugar beet”
Claim · model-written summary
Actinobacteria species correlated with good storage capacity.
- Taxon
- sugar beetBeta vulgaris subsp. vulgarist0
- Interactor
- Actinobacteria speciesActinomycetotae0other
- Outcome
- good storage capacitye0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“good storage capacity was characterized by greater microbial diversity, including the fungal indicator taxon Plectosphaerella and the correlating Actinobacteria species”
t0“sugar beet”
Claim · model-written summary
The microbial biomarkers could identify sugar beet varieties with good storability.
- Taxon
- sugar beetBeta vulgaris subsp. vulgarise0
- Outcome
- identify sugar beet varieties with good storabilitye0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“These biomarkers have the potential to be used to identify sugar beet varieties with good storability”