S14 - Session P2 - Unveiling the Effects of Hinokitiol (thujaplicin) on Ergosterol Biosynthesis in Botrytis cinerea

Authors: Nisareefah Benyakart *, Hitomi Umehara, Drupadi Ciptaningtyas, Takeo Shiina

After harvest, the shelf life of the fresh postharvest product will be shorter if the emergence of fungi caused by decay is not controlled. Gray mold is one of the major postharvest diseases caused by Botrytis cinerea , leading to postharvest losses. In this study, hinokitiol was selected as a natural substance that was reported to have the ability to inhibit the growth of such fungi with low mammalian toxicity as an alternative to synthetic fungicides. Hinokitiol is also known as β-thujaplicin, a constituent isolated from the phenol component of essential oil extracted from Chamaecyparis taiwanensis of Cupressaceae. Hinokitiol is potential as antimicrobial, antiviral, insecticidal, and antitumor activity. To observe the hinokitiol activities against the gray mold, B . cinereal Persoon (MAFF, 712208), an isolated source from the family of Rosaceae, which is in the same family with peach, was utilized. The present study aims to investigate the antifungal activity of hinokitiol against pathogens as well as the underlying mechanism involved. The result shows that the mycelial growth of B . cinerea on PDA was strongly inhibited by hinokitiol. The colony diameters decreased along with the increase of hinokitiol doses. According to the observation, the inhibitory effects were dependent on concentration and time. Spore germination and germ tube elongation of B . cinerea were similarly considerably suppressed by hinokitiol dosages, which were positively associated. Hypothetically, after being exposed to hinokitiol, the ergosterol level of B. cinerea will be reduced. This phenomenon will lead to the investigation of the action mechanism on the ergosterol biosynthesis pathway by determining the effect of hinokitiol's application on the expression of genes that are related to the ergosterol biosynthesis.