Advances on Fruit Brown Rot

Dear Colleagues,

Brown rot caused by Monilinia spp. is the most economically important fungal disease of stone and pomme fruit, causing substantial pre and postharvest losses worldwide. Direct yield losses result from infection of flowers (known as flower and twig blight) and fruit. Fruit can rot in the field, at harvest, and post-harvest. The fungus is polycyclic and produces spores in several disease cycles throughout the crop season. The primary inoculum is the mycelium on mummies found in the tree or in the soil, on infected shoots and branches, or ascospores from apothecia in some Monilinia spp. The secondary dispersion results from new production of conidia on infected flowers, twig blights, cankers, thinning fruit, or rotten fruit.

Infection begins when Monilinia conidia germinate on flower or fruit surfaces to produce germ tubes and/or appressoria, which then penetrate the surface depending on the prevailing environmental conditions. Monilinia colonizes the epidermis and mesocarp of fruit with thin and thick hyphae, causing the collapse and disruption of epidermal and mesocarpic cells, lysogenic cavities in the subepidermis and mesocarp, and total degradation of the cuticle and epidermis. Different virulence factors of Monilinia spp. have been related to cell wall degradation, toxin production, melanin synthesis, host pH modulation and redox balance in the fruit–pathogen interaction.

Climatic conditions are critical to disease development, with the temperature, wetness duration and wavelength of the visible spectrum influencing penetration and infection by Monilinia spp. When conditions are unfavourable, fruit infections can lie dormant until the season and fruit maturity advance, and the pathogen will remain inactive from early spring until the optimal time for disease development.

This Special Issue of Journal of Fungi (MDPI) will advance the knowledge of the pathogenic mechanisms, epidemiology, and control of fruit brown rot. Authors working in this field are encouraged to submit their most up-to-date research to this rapidly growing journal, which has a large readership. Potential topics include Monilinia genetics, different virulence factors in each phenological stages, the cellular formation of apothecia and Monilinia microconidia functions, pathogenic mechanisms used by each Monilinia species, the role of effector proteins in Monilinia spp. virulence, the low success in obtaining Monilinia mutants, pathogen–host interactions, epidemiological knowledge used to implement better management control practices, and new methods of controlling diseases.

Dr. Antonieta De Cal
Dr. Paloma Melgarejo
Dr. Inmaculada Larena
Dr. Belen Guijarro
Dr. Maria Villarino
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Fungi is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Monilinia spp.
• virulence factors
• teleomorph
• mutants
• effector proteins
• genetic