Antagonistic yeasts with potential to control Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) Penz. & Sacc. and Colletotrichum acutatum J.H. Simmonds on avocado fruits

Avocado is an economically important fruit that is severely affected by anthracnose disease due to the infection with Colletotrichum spp. In this study, avocado fruits with anthracnose symptoms were collected in Morelos, Mexico. Two phytopathogenic fungi were isolated from these fruits and identified as Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Colletotrichum acutatum using ITS sequences. Further, eleven yeasts from avocado (three from fruits, four from leaves and four from rhizospheric soil) were isolated; of which three showed in vitro antagonistic activity against C. gloeosporioides and C. acutatum. ITS sequence analysis of the isolated yeasts revealed that the strains obtained from fruits belonged to Candida intermedia while those isolated from leaves belonged to Wickerhamomyces anomalus. C. intermedia reduced disease incidence caused only by C. gloeosporioides, whereas, W. anomalus caused a significant reduction in the incidence and severity of disease caused by both C. gloeosporioides and C. acutatum. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the antagonistic activity of W. anomalus or C. intermedia against Colletotrichum acutatum. Thus, W. anomalus is a potential natural alternative for controlling anthracnose infection and associated loss in avocado crops.