Differences in Gene Expression Profiles of Botrytis Cinerea During Noble and Gray Rot Development in Grapevine

Botrytis cinerea , the pathogen causing gray rot (GR) with important economic losses in fruit crops, can also noble rot (NR) of grape berries under certain environmental conditions, leading to favoured metabolic and physical changes necessary for producing highly regarded botrytized wines. The functional genes involved in biochemical processes in these harmful vs. beneficial rot types are still scarcely. We analyzed metatranscriptomic data from healthy (H), NR and GR grape berries collected in the Tokaj wine region in Hungary. Our study shows that B. cinerea is most metabolocially active in NR, followed by GR and H. In addition, expression profiles differed qualitatively between NR and GR, and to a smaller extent between months. Several functional genes characteristic to NR were linked to biochemical process involved in physico-chemical changes grape berry structure and production of metabolites favourable to botrytised wine production. In addition, we found that B. cinerea appeared to express genes involved in the biosynthesis of antimicrobials during NR, but not in GR, which likely contributes to the dominance of this fungus during NR.