Transcriptomic analysis reveals the key genes involved in EBR inducing resistance against Botrytis cinerea in postharvest strawberries

• EBR at 5 μmol L −1 inhibited gray mold caused by botrytis cinerea in strawberries. • EBR and B. cinerea inoculation induced the responses of four defense-related pathways. • RNA-Seq revealed TFs involved in the resistance against B. cinerea induced by EBR. • ERF, BZR1, bHLH and NAC were correlated with DEGs in four defense-related pathways. Gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea ( B. cinerea) resulted in quality deterioration and loss of postharvest strawberries. The present research illustrated the effect of 2,4-Epibrassinolide (EBR) at 5 μmol L −1 on inhibiting the gray mold of strawberries and explored the possible molecular mechanism based on transcriptome analysis. EBR stimulated the pathways of plant hormone signal transduction, plant-pathogen interaction, MAPK signaling and phenylpropanoid biosynthesis. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction results confirmed that the expression of genes involved in the key pathways were regulated by EBR, such as FaPAL, FaPR1 and FaGLU. Co-expression correlation analysis further indicated the transcription factors (TFs) including FaERF, FabHLH, FaBZR1 and FaNAC may participate in the regulation of differential genes (DEGs) expression during the resistance against pathogen. These findings validated the pivotal role of relevant pathways and DEGs in the responses to pathogens and provided valuable genetic information for further studies on transcriptional regulatory mechanism of resistance induced by EBR in strawberries.