Abstract
Light represents a ubiquitous source of information for organisms to evaluate their environment. The influence of light on colony growth and conidiation was determined for three Monilinia laxa isolates. The highest mycelial growth rate was observed under red light for the three M. laxa isolates, followed by green light, daylight or darkness. However, reduced sporulation levels were observed in darkness and red light, but conidiation enhancement was found under daylight, black and green light with more hours of exposure to light. Putative photoreceptors for blue (white-collar and cryptochromes), green (opsins), and red light (phytochromes) were identified, and the photoresponse-related regulatory family of velvet proteins. A unique ortholog for each photoreceptor was found, and their respective domain architecture was highly conserved. Transcriptional analyses of uncovered sets of genes were performed under daylight or specific color light, and both in time course illumination, finding light-dependent triggered gene expression of MlVEL2, MlPHY2, MlOPS2, and MlCRY2, and color light as a positive inductor of MlVEL3, MlVEL4, MlPHY1, and MlCRY1 expression. M. laxa has a highly conserved set of photoreceptors with other light-responsive fungi. Our phenotypic analyses and the existence of this light-sensing machinery suggest transcriptional regulatory systems dedicated to modulating the development and dispersion of this pathogen.
Highlights
The European brown rot Monilinia laxa (Aderhold et Rulhand) Honey causes diseases in important Rosaceae family crops, in particular, stone fruit and pome fruit [1]
Monilinia laxa is an airborne plant pathogen subjected to different abiotic environmental factors, such as temperature, humidity, wind, and sunlight, that influence brown rot development
Our study provides a general approach to phenotype changes and molecular evidence of transcriptional responses to light in M. laxa
Summary
The European brown rot Monilinia laxa (Aderhold et Rulhand) Honey causes diseases in important Rosaceae family crops, in particular, stone fruit and pome fruit [1]. Climatic conditions are critical for M. laxa infection in stone fruit. Among the climatic factors that most influence the penetration and infection of Monilinia spp. are temperature and wetness duration period [2]. A positive correlation has been reported between M. laxa incidence at postharvest and temperature, temperature being responsible for 82% of postharvest brown rot [3]. The temperature was positively correlated with the number of necrotic infected twigs in peach orchards [4]. Colonization, latency, reproduction, release, transport, and deposition of Monilinia spp. conidia are related to temperature, the relative humidity, the amount of rainfall, and the wind direction [5,6]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
