The most important aerial diseases affecting avocado orchards on the
Andalusian coast (Spain) are caused by species of fungi belonging to
the Botryosphaeriaceae family, one of the most common being Neofusicoccum
luteum. The symptoms produced by this fungus are branch
dieback and fruit rot. Currently, it is essential to develop strategies to
control this disease. In this line, knowledge of the infection mechanisms
of the pathogen is considered an essential objective. Therefore,
a transcriptomic study was carried out by RNAseq of N. luteum growing
on avocado branch and fruit in comparison with its in vitro growth
in PDA medium. Transcriptome analysis revealed a total of 903 and
1271 genes significantly downregulated (- 2 > fold change > 2) during
growth on branch and fruit compared to growth on PDA, respectively.
Among the genes overexpressed in the N. luteum/branch/fruit interaction,
genes related to mycotoxin production, wall degradation, detoxification
of harmful compounds, protein degradation and candidate effector
proteins were identified, three of which showed 100% probability
(Effector P3) and apoplastic localization. The analysis of N. luteum
transcriptome during the infection process will be a very useful tool to
better understand the biology and virulence of this emerging pathogen
and will help in the development of strategies for its control
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