The nutritional environment at the wound site may be favorable to
R. mucilaginosa, which rapidly colonizes the fruit tissues and will be
competing with the pathogen for nutrients. Our results also
showed that PA slightly increased the population growth of
R. mucilaginosa in fruit wounds at the first day at 20 C, and slightly
increased the population growth of R. mucilaginosa in fruit wounds
at the whole storage time at 4 C. When PA was used with
R. mucilaginosa in fruits, R. mucilaginosa multiplied rapidly in
wounds at the first stage of storage and, perhaps, consumed
available nutrients, which may facilitate biocontrol by nutrient
competition. These results suggest that PA enhance the biocontrol
efficacy of R. mucilaginosa to postharvest diseases of strawberries
by facilitating the growth of R. mucilaginosa in strawberries and
enhancing the activity of nutrient competition. Plant pathogens
have evolved a variety of strategies for extracting nutrients from
their hosts (Vogel, Raab, Somerville, & Somerville, 2004),