Comparative proteomic analysis of Botrytis cinerea secretome

Botrytis cinerea (B. cinerea) is a filamentous fungus infecting more than 200 plant species, causing significant economic losses worldwide. Secreted proteins are released as an initial response of the fungus to its plant host. We report the use of a high-throughput LC-MS/MS approach to analyze B. cinerea BO5.10 secreted proteins. Secretions were collected from fungus grown on a solid substrate of cellophane membrane while mock infecting media supplemented with the extract of full red tomato, ripened strawberry or Arabidopsis leaf extract. Overall, 89 B. cinerea proteins were identified from all growth conditions. Sixty proteins were predicted to contain a SignalP motif indicating the extracellular location of the proteins. Seven proteins were observed in all the growth conditions implying a constitutive nature of their secretion. Identified in the secretions were transport proteins, proteins well-characterized for carbohydrate metabolism, peptidases, oxidation/reduction, and pathogenicity factors that provide important insights into how B. cinerea may use secreted proteins for plant infection and colonization.