Analysis of the Molecular Dialogue Between Gray Mold (Botrytis cinerea) and Grapevine (Vitis vinifera) Reveals a Clear Shift in Defense Mechanisms During Berry Ripening

Mature grapevine berries at the harvesting stage (MB) are very susceptible to the gray mold fungus Botrytis cinerea, while veraison berries (VB) are not. We conducted simultaneous microscopic and transcriptomic analyses of the pathogen and the host to investigate the infection process developed by B. cinerea on MB versus VB, and the plant defense mechanisms deployed to stop the fungus spreading. On the pathogen side, our genome-wide transcriptomic data revealed that B. cinerea genes upregulated during infection of MB are enriched in functional categories related to necrotrophy, such as degradation of the plant cell wall, proteolysis, membrane transport, reactive oxygen species (ROS) genera…