Proteomics of fungal plant pathogens: the case of Botrytis cinerea

Plant pathogenic fungi cause important yield losses in crops. In order to develop efficient and environment-friendly crop protection strategies, molecular studies of the fungal biological cycle and interaction with its host are necessary. For that reason, several approaches have been made using both classical genetic, cell biology and biochemistry and modern, holistic and high-throughput, omic techniques. Proteomics, in combination with other techniques, constitutes a powerful tool for providing important information about pathogenicity and virulence factors, thus opening up new possibilities for crop disease diagnosis and crop protection. In this chapter we review how proteomics can contribute to such studies and objectives, with examples of our current research with Botrytis cinerea, and reference to the technical platform used, based on electrophoresis-MS-based proteomics, and specific protocols.