ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Antimicrobials, Resistance and Chemotherapy
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1600831
This article is part of the Research TopicEmerging Antimicrobials: Sources, Mechanisms of Action, Spectrum of Activity, Combination Antimicrobial Therapy, and Resistance MechanismsView all 41 articles
Terpinen-4-ol triggers autophagy activation and metacaspasedependent apoptosis against Botrytis cinerea
Provisionally accepted
- 1Agricultural Technology Service Center of Linzi District, Zibo, China
- 2Shandong Agricultural Technology Extension Service Center, Jinan, China
- 3Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China
- 4Zibo Linzi District Municipal Gardening and Sanitation Service Centre, Zibo, China
- 5School of Agricultural Engineering and Food Science, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo, China
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Botrytis cinerea, a necrotrophic phytopathogen responsible for gray mold disease, poses a significant threat to global postharvest horticultural production due to substantial spoilage of fruits and vegetables. This study systematically investigated the antifungal efficacy and molecular mechanisms of terpinen-4-ol against B. cinerea. Terpinen-4-ol exhibited a broad-spectrum of antifungal activity, significantly inhibiting both mycelium growth and conidial viability of B. cinerea. Further analyses revealed that terpinen-4-ol disrupted cell membrane integrity and induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation. The inhibitory effect may be attributed to its ability to promote ROS accumulation and induce autophagy activity, thereby disrupting the intracellular redox balance and autophagic processes in fungi, ultimately leading to apoptosis via a metacaspase-dependent pathway. Altogether, these findings revealed a specific antifungal mechanism of terpinen-4-ol against B. cinerea, suggesting its potential as an effective preservative for postharvest preservation of fruits.
Keywords: Antifungal activity, Autophagy, Chemical control, Apoptosis, metacaspase-dependent, Gray mold
Received: 27 Mar 2025; Accepted: 12 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Li, Shen, Wang, Wang and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Kunchun Wang, Agricultural Technology Service Center of Linzi District, Zibo, China
Delong Li, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, China
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