Many Shades of Grey in Botrytis-Host Plant Interactions

Javier Veloso; Jan A L van Kan

doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2018.03.016

Many Shades of Grey in Botrytis-Host Plant Interactions

Trends Plant Sci. 2018 Jul;23(7):613-622. doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2018.03.016. Epub 2018 Apr 30.

Authors

Javier Veloso¹, Jan A L van Kan²

Affiliations

¹ Wageningen University, Laboratory of Phytopathology, Wageningen, The Netherlands; Department of Plant Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of A Coruña, A Coruña, Spain.
² Wageningen University, Laboratory of Phytopathology, Wageningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: jan.vankan@wur.nl.

PMID: 29724660
DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2018.03.016

Abstract

The grey mould Botrytis cinerea causes disease in more than 1000 plant species, including important crops. The interaction between Botrytis and its (potential) hosts is determined by quantitative susceptibility and virulence traits in both interacting partners, resulting in a greyscale of disease outcomes. Fungal infection was long thought to rely mainly on its capacity to kill the host plant and degrade plant tissue. Recent research has revealed that Botrytis exploits two crucial biological processes in host plants for its own success. We highlight recent findings that illustrate that the interactions between Botrytis and its host plants are subtle and we discuss the molecular and cellular mechanisms controlling the many shades of grey during these interactions.

Keywords: cross-kingdom gene silencing; endophyte; grey mould; programmed cell death.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Botrytis / pathogenicity*
Plant Diseases / microbiology*
Plants / microbiology*
Virulence