Light‐Driven Transcriptomic Changes in <i>Monilinia fructigena</i> During Early Infection of Nectarines

ABSTRACT Brown rot is a fungal disease affecting stone fruit crops worldwide, whose main causal agents are Monilinia fructicola , M. laxa and M . fructigena in Spain. However, M. fructicola and M. laxa are significantly more virulent than M . fructigena . In this study, we determined the transcriptional pattern of M . fructigena during early infection in response to light. Light had no impact on disease severity caused by M . fructigena at the early infection stage, but had major effects on gene regulation, specifically on carbohydrate metabolism and CAZyme expression. White light induced genes such as Mfgcel1 , Mfgpg1 , Mfgpg2 , Mfgpme3 , Mfgpme2 , Mfgpnl2 and Mfgnep2 after a 5‐min light pulse, but after 14 h the expression levels of these genes were not different from the control group in darkness. Only Mfgvvd1 and Mfgfrq1 were light‐inducible genes in M . fructigena among many other genes described to be part of the Monilinia spp. photoreception machinery. There are differences among Monilinia species regarding their behaviour in response to light during early nectarine infection, which, considering climate change, could affect disease control.