Institute of Technology and Storage of Agricultural Products,
Dept. of Postharvest Science of Fresh Produce,
Agricultural Research Organization,
The Volcani Center,
P.O.Box 6, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel
Research Interests
Molecular Mycology
Molecular mechanisms that enable fungi to resist environmental stress. In particular,
responses of Botrytis cinerea to chemical and physical stress imposed by the
environment or by postharvest treatments. From the practical point of view this
knowledge basis can facilitate better control of fungal pathogenesis.
Postharvest Table Grape Research
Postharvest pathology of table grape with emphasis on development of Botrytis
cinerea during storage.
Development of novel methods for postharvest storage of table grapes.
Food safety: Ochratoxin production by Aspergillii in the vineyard.
Genomics for evaluation of the effect of gibberellin on quality of grapes
Postharvest Tomato Research
Physiological signals which control shattering of bunch tomatoes
and genes involved in fruit abscission.
Improvement of cold storage conditions for prevention of quality losses
of bunch tomatoes.
Prevention of cracking in cherry tomatoes.
Postharvest Litchi Research
Mechanisms used by acidophilic Penicillia to survive postharvest treatments of litchi fruits.
Development of improved methods for postharvest handling of litchi fruits.
Recent Publications
Lichter A. and Postharvest Biol. and TechnolMills D. (1997). Fil1,
a G protein a subunit that acts upstream of cAMP and is essential for dimorphic
switching of haploid cells of Ustilago hordei. Mol. Gen. Genet. 256:
426-435.
Lichter A. and Mills D. (1998). Contol of pigmentation of Ustilago hordei:
the effect of pH, thiamin and involvement of the cAMP cascade. Fungal
Genet. Biol. 25: 63-74
Lichter, A., Dvir, O., Rot, I., Akerman, M., Regev, R., Veisblum, A., Fallik,
E., Zauberman, G.,and Fuchs, Y. (2000). Hot water brushing: an alternative
method to SO2 fumigation for color retention of litchi fruits.
. 18:235-244.
Ming, J., Manulis, S., Barash, I., and Lichter, A. (2001). The operon for
cytokinin biosynthesis of Erwinia herbicola pv. gypsophilae contains two promoters
and is plant-induced. Can. J. of Microbiol. 47: 1126-1131
Lichter, A., Zutkhy, Y., Sonego, L., Dvir, O., Kaplunov, T., Sarig, P.,
and Ben-Arie, R. (2002). Ethanol Controls Postharvest Decay of Table Grapes.
Postharvest Biol and Technol. 24: 301-308.
Lichter, A., Dvir, O., Fallik, E., Cohen, S., Golan, R., Shemer, Z., and Sagi,
M. (2002). The cracking potential of cherry tomatoes in solution. Postharvest
Biol and Technol. In Press.
Pesis, E., Feynberg, O., Ben-Arie, R., Ackerman, M., Dvir, O., and Lichter,
A. (2002). Production of acetaldehyde and ethanol during maturation and modified
atmosphere storage of litchi fruit. Postharvest Biol and Technol. In
Press.
Eshel, D., Lichter, A., Dinoor, A. and Pruski, D. (2002). Characterization
of Alternaria alternata endoglucanase genes expressed during infection
of resistant and susceptible persimmon fruits. Molecular Plant Pathology.
In Press.
Lichter, A., Gaventa, M. J., and Ciuffetti, M. L. Chromosome-based molecular
characterization of pathogenic and non-pathogenic wheat isolates of Pyrenophora
tritici-repentis. Fungal Genet. and Biol. In Press.
Jiang, Y., Yao, L., Lichter, A., Li, J. (2003). Postharvest biology and
technology of litchi fruit. Food Agric. and Environ. (In press, Online
ISSN 1459-0263).
Madi, L., Wang, X., Kobiler, I., Lichter, A., Prusky, D. (2002). Stress
on avocado fruits regulate Δ9-stearoyl ACP desaturase expression,
fatty acid composition, antifungal diene level and resistance to Colletotrichum
gloeosporioides attack. Physiol. and Mol. Plant Pathol. (In Press).
Lichter, A., Dvir, O., Ackerman, M., Feygenberg, O. and Pesis O. (2002).
The acidified peel of litchi fruits promotes postharvest Penicillium
decay. Phytoparasitica. (In Press ).
Lichter, A., Zhou, H-W., Vacnin, M., Zutkhy, Y., Kaplunov, T. and Lurie,
S. Survival and responses of Botrytis cinerea to ethanol and heat.
J. Phytopathol 151, 553-563.
Lichter, A., Dvir, O., Ackerman, M., Feygenberg, O. and Pesis O. (2004).
Acidified peel of litchi fruits selects for postharvest Penicillium
decay. Phytoparasitica. 32, 226-236.
Beno-Moualem, D., Gusev, L., Dvir, O., Pesis, E., Meir, S., and Lichter,
A. (2004). The effects of ethylene, methyl-jasmonate and 1-MCP on abscission
of cherry tomatoes from the bunch and expression of endo-1,4-ß-glucanases.
Plant Science. 167, 499-507.
Wang, X., Beno-Moualem, D., Lichter, A., Kobiler, I., Leikin-Frenkel, A.
and Prusky, D. (2004). Expression of Δ12 fatty acid desaturase
during the induced accumulation of the antifungal diene in avocado fruits.
Molecular Plant Pathology. 5:575-585.
Lichter, A., Zutachi, Y., Kaplunov, T., Aharoni, N. and Lurie, S (2005).
The effect of ethanol dip and modified atmosphere on prevention of Botrytis
rot of table grapes. HorTechnology. 15, 284-291
Wang, X, Lichter, A., Leikin-Frenkel, A. and Prusky, D. (2005). Enhanced
expression of avfae1 encoding a very-long-chain fatty acid elongase
during the induction of the antifungal diene in avocado fruits. Physiol.
and Mol. Plant Pathol. In Press.
Guzev, L., Danshin, A., Ziv, S. and Lichter, A. (2005). Occurrence of ochratoxin
A producing fungi in wine and table grapes in Israel. International Journal
of Food Microbiology. In Press.
Guzev, L., Danshin, A, Zahavi, T., Ovadia, A. and Lichter, A. (2005). The
effects of cold storage, sulfur dioxide and ethanol on species of black Aspergillus
producing ochratoxin A. International Journal of Food Microbiology.
In Press.
Amnon Lichter Ph.D