Dynamics of the Apple Fruit Microbiome after Harvest and Implications for Fruit Quality

Here, we describe the apple fruit microbiome and influences on its composition by parameters such as storage season, storage duration, storage technology, apple variety, and plant protection schemes. A combined culturing and metabarcoding approach revealed significant differences in the abundance, composition, and diversity of the apple fruit microbiome. We showed that rela-tively few genera contribute a large portion of the microbiome on fruit and that the fruit micro-biome changes during the storage season depending on the storage conditions. In addition, we show that the plant protection regime has an influence on the diversity of the fruit microbiome and on the dynamics of pathogenic fungal genera during the storage season.