Airborne fungi are one of the major components of aeromycobiota known to produce several fungal diseases in fruits. Their presence in indoor environment of warehouses may limit the storage period of apples. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of airborne fungal spores were conducted using gravity settling techniques to detect fungal airspora present in the atmosphere of two apple warehouses in Tunisia. In this study, 375 fungal isolates were obtained and purified. Phylogenetic analysis of calmodulin, beta-tubulin and ITS regions coupled with phenotypic characterization helped to identify 15 fungal species. Penicillium exhibited the highest diversity with ten species detected (Penicillium allii, P. chrysogenum, P. citrinum, P. expansum, P. italicum, P. polonicum, P. solitum, P. steckii, P. sumatraense and P. viridicatum), followed by four species of Aspergillus genus (Aspergillus europaeus, A. flavus, A. niger and A. pulverulentus) and Alternaria alternata. In vivo experiments confirmed the pathogenicity of 13 species at room temperature and under cold-storage conditions. Among them, A. europaeus, A. pulverulentus, P. allii and P. sumatraense were described for the first time as pathogens on apples. The present study identified the major airborne fungi associated with postharvest rot in apple storage facilities in Tunisia and may help in efficient control of postharvest and storage fruit diseases.

空气中的真菌是空气真菌群的主要成分之一，已知会在水果中产生多种真菌病害。它们在仓库室内环境中的存在可能会限制苹果的储存期。使用重力沉降技术对空气中的真菌孢子进行定性和定量分析，以检测突尼斯两个苹果仓库大气中存在的真菌空气孢子。在本研究中，获得并纯化了 375 株真菌。钙调蛋白、β-微管蛋白和 ITS 区域的系统发育分析以及表型特征有助于识别 15 种真菌。Penicillium表现出最高的多样性，检测到 10 个物种（Penicillium allii , P. chrysogenum , P. citrinum ,扩展青霉，P. italicum的，P. polonicum，P. solitum，P. steckii，P. sumatraense和P. viridicatum），其次是4种曲霉属（曲霉europaeus，黄曲霉，黑曲霉和A. pulverulentus ) 和Alternaria alternata。体内实验证实了 13 个物种在室温和冷藏条件下的致病性。其中，A. europaeus、A. pulverulentus、P. allii和P. sumatraense首次被描述为苹果上的病原体。本研究确定了突尼斯苹果储藏设施中与采后腐烂相关的主要空气传播真菌，可能有助于有效控制采后和储藏水果病害。