Strawberry is a major fruit crop worldwide because its nutritional and health benefits to human health, but its productivity is limited by Botrytis cinerea. Sucrose nonfermentation 1-related protein kinase 1 (SnRK1) has a defense function against pathogens, but the function of SnRK1 in the defense response to B. cinerea in plants is still unclear. In this study, FaSnRK1α-OE and RNAi fruits were constructed and then inoculated with B. cinerea. The result reveals a positive role of FaSnRK1α in the regulation of resistance to gray mold. FaSnRK1α affects SA content by regulating FaPAL1 and FaPAL2 expressions. The genes related to the SA signaling pathway (FaTGA1 and FaTGA2.1) were significantly increased/decreased in FaSnRK1α-OE or FaSnRK1α-RNAi fruit, respectively. FaSnRK1α interacted with the FaWRKY33.2 protein and negatively regulated FaWRKY33.2 expression, and FaWRKY33.2 acts as a repressor of disease resistance to B. cinerea. Finally, FaSnRK1α regulates the expression of six PR genes and the activities of antioxidant enzymes to boost defense response after B. cinerea inoculation. Our findings showed that FaSnRK1α increases the resistance of strawberry fruit to B. cinerea via SA signaling pathway and interaction with the FaWRKY33.2 transcription factor.

草莓是世界范围内的主要水果作物，因为它的营养和保健有益于人类健康，但其生产力受到灰葡萄孢的限制。蔗糖非发酵1相关蛋白激酶1（SnRK1）具有针对病原体的防御功能，但SnRK1在植物对灰霉病的防御反应中的功能仍不清楚。在本研究中，构建了FaSnRK1α -OE 和 RNAi 果实，然后接种灰霉病菌。结果揭示了FaSnRK1α在灰霉病抗性调节中的积极作用。FaSnRK1α通过调节FaPAL1和FaPAL2的表达来影响SA含量。与SA信号通路相关的基因（FaTGA1和FaTGA2.1 ）在FaSnRK1α -OE或FaSnRK1α -RNAi果实中分别显着增加/减少。FaSnRK1α 与 FaWRKY33.2 蛋白相互作用并负向调节FaWRKY33.2表达，而 FaWRKY33.2 充当灰霉病抗病性的抑制因子。最后，FaSnRK1α调节 6 个PR基因的表达和抗氧化酶的活性，以增强灰霉病菌接种后的防御反应。我们的研究结果表明，FaSnRK1α通过 SA 信号通路以及与 FaWRKY33.2 转录因子的相互作用增加了草莓果实对灰霉病的抗性。