Botrytis cinerea causes
gray mold
in many fruit and vegetable crops. We previously found that Seselin
(SL) displayed antifungal activity against B. cinerea (EC50 = 6.1 μg·mL–1), and
this study investigated the effects of Ca2+ and the Ca2+/CN signaling pathway on its antifungal activity against B. cinerea. The results indicated that exogenous
Ca2+, Cyclosporine A, and Verapamil reduced the sensitivity
of SL against B. cinerea; SL significantly
reduced the intracellular Ca2+ concentration in the hyphae;
the sensitivity of strains ΔbcCCH1 and ΔbcMID1 to SL were significantly increased; and the expressions
of CCH1, MID1, CNA, PMC1, and PMR1 genes of the Ca2+/CN signaling pathway were significantly downregulated by
SL treatment. Hence, SL is a potential compound for developing fungicides
against B. cinerea. SL dramatically
reduces intracellular Ca2+ concentration and disturbs Ca2+ homeostasis, leading to cell death. The Ca2+/CN
signaling pathway plays an important role in the antifungal activity
of SL against B. cinerea.