Analyses of effects of α-cembratrien-diol on cell morphology and transcriptome of Valsa mali var. mali

The objective of this work was to study the underlying mechanisms of growth inhibition of Valsa mali var. mali, the causative pathogen of apple tree canker disease, by α-cembratrien-diol. The half maximal inhibitory concentration of α-cembratrien-diol against V. mali var. mali is 18.0 mg/L. Treatment of V. mali var. mali with α-cembratrien-diol resulted in various mycelial and cellular abnormalities, and the up- and down-regulation of 94 and 170 differentially expressed genes, respectively. Gene Ontology term enrichment analysis revealed that α-cembratrien-diol substantially altered the expression of genes involved in the redox process, tetrapyrrole binding, coenzyme binding, heme binding, and iron binding. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis also showed significant enrichment of specific metabolic pathways involving the set of differentially expressed genes. The present study will assist in the development of alternative α-cembratrien-diol-based biological control agents and ultimately facilitate organic apple production.