Interactions of Tomato and Botrytis cinerea Genetic Diversity: Parsing the Contributions of Host Differentiation, Domestication, and Pathogen Variation

ABSTRACTDisease symptoms arise from the interaction of the host and pathogen genomes. However, little is known about how genetic variation in the interaction modulates both organisms’ transcriptomes, especially in complex interactions like those between generalist pathogens and their plant hosts. To begin mapping how polygenic pathogen variation influences both organisms’ transcriptomes, we used the Botrytis cinerea - Arabidopsis thaliana pathosystem. We measured the co-transcriptome across a genetically diverse collection of 96 B. cinerea isolates infected on the Arabidopsis wildtype, Col-0. Using the B. cinerea genomic variation, we performed genome-wide association (GWA) for each of 23,947 measurable transcripts in the host, and 9,267 measurable transcripts in the pathogen. Unlike other eGWA studies, there was a relative absence of cis-eQTL that is likely explained by structural variants and allelic heterogeneity within the pathogen’s genome. This analysis identified mostly trans-eQTL in the pathogen with eQTL hotspots dispersed across the pathogen genome that altered the pathogen’s transcripts, the host’s transcripts, or both the pathogen and the host. Gene membership in the trans-eQTL hotspots suggests links to several known and many novel virulence mechanisms in the plant-pathogen interaction. Genes annotated to these hotspots provide potential targets for blocking manipulation of the host response by this ubiquitous generalist pathogen. This shows that genetic control over the co-transcriptome is polygenic, similar to the virulence outcome in the interaction of Botrytis cinerea on Arabidopsis thaliana.

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Genetic diversity in Botrytis cinerea populations on vegetable crops in greenhouses in south-eastern Spain

Plant Pathology ◽

10.1046/j.1365-3059.2000.00452.x ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 49 (2) ◽

pp. 243-251 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

C. Alfonso ◽

R. Raposo ◽

P. Melgarejo

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Botrytis Cinerea ◽

Vegetable Crops ◽

South Eastern

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Expansive Phenotypic Landscape of Botrytis cinerea Shows Differential Contribution of Genetic Diversity and Plasticity

Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions ◽

10.1094/mpmi-09-15-0196-r ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 29 (4) ◽

pp. 287-298 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Jason A. Corwin ◽

Anushriya Subedy ◽

Robert Eshbaugh ◽

Daniel J. Kliebenstein

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Genetic Variation ◽

Botrytis Cinerea ◽

Phenotypic Variation ◽

Genotypic Variation ◽

Environmental Variation ◽

In Planta ◽

Phenotypic Differences ◽

Relative Contribution

The modern evolutionary synthesis suggests that both environmental variation and genetic diversity are critical determinants of pathogen success. However, the relative contribution of these two sources of variation is not routinely measured. To estimate the relative contribution of plasticity and genetic diversity for virulence-associated phenotypes in a generalist plant pathogen, we grew a population of 15 isolates of Botrytis cinerea from throughout the world, under a variety of in vitro and in planta conditions. Under in planta conditions, phenotypic differences between the isolates were determined by the combination of genotypic variation within the pathogen and environmental variation. In contrast, phenotypic differences between the isolates under in vitro conditions were predominantly determined by genetic variation in the pathogen. Using a correlation network approach, we link the phenotypic variation under in vitro experimental conditions to phenotypic variation during plant infection. This study indicates that there is a high level of phenotypic variation within B. cinerea that is controlled by a mixture of genetic variation, environment, and genotype × environment. This argues that future experiments into the pathogenicity of B. cinerea must account for the genetic and environmental variation within the pathogen to better sample the potential phenotypic space of the pathogen.

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Rapid Change in the Genetic Diversity of Botrytis cinerea Populations After the Introduction of Strains in a Tomato Glasshouse

Phytopathology ◽

10.1094/phyto-99-2-0185 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 99 (2) ◽

pp. 185-193 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

V. Decognet ◽

M. Bardin ◽

Y. Trottin-Caudal ◽

P. C. Nicot

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Botrytis Cinerea ◽

Rapid Change ◽

Gray Mold ◽

Disease Development ◽

Airborne Inoculum ◽

Wide Range ◽

Stem Lesions ◽

High Level

In tomato glasshouses, the population structure of airborne inoculum of Botrytis cinerea depends on the production of endogenous inoculum on diseased plants as well as on incoming exogenous inoculum. Both types of inocula may contribute differently to the development of epidemics. Two strains of B. cinerea were introduced in each of four separate compartments of an experimental tomato glasshouse. We monitored their impact on disease development and on the genetic diversity of B. cinerea populations using microsatellite markers. The naturally occurring airborne inoculum of B. cinerea displayed a high level of genetic diversity and was rapidly displaced in the glasshouse, as isolates with microsatellite profiles identical to the introduced strains amounted to 66% of the inoculum sampled from the air 14 days after inoculation and 91% of those collected from stem lesions 60 days after inoculation. This suggested an important role of secondary inoculum in disease development, which is compatible with the hypothesis of a polycyclic development of gray mold epidemics in tomato glasshouses. In controlled-environment tests on tomatoes, a wide range of aggressiveness levels was observed, both for isolates sampled from the air and from lesions on plants. Hypotheses are proposed to explain the negligible impact of naturally incoming isolates on the epidemics observed inside the four glasshouse compartments.

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Morphological, pathogenic and genetic diversity of Botrytis cinerea Pers. in blackberry cultivations in Colombia

Revista Brasileira de Fruticultura ◽

10.1590/0100-29452019490 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 41 (6) ◽

Author(s):

Liliana Isaza ◽

Yenni Paola Zuluaga ◽

Marta Leonor Marulanda

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Botrytis Cinerea ◽

High Resistance ◽

Geographical Origin ◽

Genetic Characterization ◽

Gray Mold ◽

Daily Growth ◽

Genetic Characteristics ◽

Management Measures ◽

Pathogenicity Tests

Abstract The Andean blackberry (Rubus glaucus Benth) is one of the most important fruits with the greatest commercial projection in Colombia. The factors that most affect its production are the attack of diseases and the scarce information about its control. One of the most limiting diseases of the crop is the gray mold, produced by the fungus Botrytis cinerea. This research presents the diversity of B. cinerea isolates from fields of andean blackberry in Colombia, based on the morphological, pathogenic and genetic characteristics allowing broadening the knowledge of the phytopathogen for subsequent management measures. Andean blackberry fruits were collected with characteristic symptoms of gray mold in farms located in eight producing areas of Colombian Andean region. A total of 50 samples were analyzed finding two types of growth, miceliar and sclerocial, differences in the layout and size of the sclerotia, as well as differences in the daily growth of the mycelium. Regarding genetic characterization with microsatellite markers, it was shown that genetic diversity is concentrated within populations and that there is a tendency to group by geographical origin. With the pathogenicity tests, the two most pathogenic isolates were selected and it was found that, although the four possible genotypes were found with the transposable elements (Vacuma, Transposa, Boty, Flipper), none of them presented high resistance to the fungicide fenhexamide.

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