Citrus Postharvest Green Mold: Recent Advances in Fungal Pathogenicity and Fruit Resistance

Abstract

As the major postharvest disease of citrus fruit, postharvest green mold is caused by the necrotrophic fungus Penicillium digitatum (Pd), which leads to huge economic losses worldwide. Fungicides are still the main method currently used to control postharvest green mold in citrus fruit storage. Investigating molecular mechanisms of plant–pathogen interactions, including pathogenicity and plant resistance, is crucial for developing novel and safer strategies for effectively controlling plant diseases. Despite fruit–pathogen interactions remaining relatively unexplored compared with well-studied leaf–pathogen interactions, progress has occurred in the citrus fruit–Pd interaction in recent years, mainly due to their genome sequencing and establishment or optimization of their genetic transformation systems. Recent advances in Pd pathogenicity on citrus fruit and fruit resistance against Pd infection are summarized in this review.