2019 ASHS Annual Conference

Colletotrichum fioriniaeis a major fungal pathogen of blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) and is the causal organism of anthracnose fruit rot in Michigan. C. fioriniaeemploys different infection strategies based on the cultivar of blueberry fruit it infects ranging from intramural hemibiotrophy to intercellular necrotrophy. Little is known about the genes involved in the blueberry-anthracnose pathosystem, so we used a time-course based, RNA-sequencing approach to better elucidate the mechanisms involved in establishing a successful infection in the susceptible cv. ‘Jersey’ and resistant cv. ‘Elliott.’ We leveraged network analysis to identify modules that are up-regulated in blueberry fruit challenged with C. fioriniae, primarily those modules associated with antioxidant metabolism and redox scavenging. Additionally, we analyzed modules that are up-regulated in C. fioriniae during various stages of the infection with particular focus on putative effector genes. Overall, our analysis informs highbush blueberry breeding efforts by demonstrating that the infection of blueberry fruit by C. fioriniaeis a nuanced, cultivar dependent system.