Bacterial community diversity on the surface of Chinese wolfberry fruit and its potential for biological control

The bacterial diversity on the surface of the Chinese Wolfberry (Lycium barbarum) affects the storage tolerance of the fruit. We analyzed the bacterial diversity on the surfaces of eight varieties of Chinese wolfberries using high-throughput sequencing before and after storage. A total of 737 OTUs, including 584 species, 423 genera, 243 families, 153 orders, and 62 classes, were identified by bioinformatic analysis of the OTUs at the 97% similarity level. There were no significant differences among fruit varieties just after picking (O period). The dominant genera during the O period were Massilia and Pseudomonas. However, after a 144-hour storage period (S period), there were significant changes in both the decay rate and surface bacterial compositions. The Z1 variety showed the highest rate of decay, and its surface microbiota was dominated by Pantoea (84.34%), while the variety with the lowest decay rate was O, dominated by both Pantoea (69.06%) and Rosenbergiella (16.99%).