Cowpea–Meloidogyne incognita interaction: Root proteomic analysis during early stages of nematode infection

Abstract

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) is an important legume species well adapted to low fertility soils and prolonged drought periods. One of the main problems that cause severe yield losses in cowpea is the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita. The aim of this work was to analyze the differential expression of proteins in the contrasting cultivars of cowpea CE 31 (highly resistant) and CE 109 (slightly resistant) during early stages of M. incognita infection. Cowpea roots were collected at 3, 6, and 9 days after inoculation and used for protein extraction and 2-DE analysis. From a total of 59 differential spots, 37 proteins were identified, mostly involved in plant defense, such as spermidine synthase, patatin, proteasome component, and nitrile-specifier protein. A follow-up study was performed by quantitative RT-PCR analysis of nine selected proteins and the results revealed a very similar upregulation trend between the protein expression profiles and the corresponding transcripts. This study also identified ACT and GAPDH as a good combination of reference genes for quantitative RT-PCR analysis of the pathosystem cowpea/nematode. Additionally, an interactome analysis showed three major pathways affected by nematode infection: proteasome endopeptidase complex, oxidative phosphorylation, and flavonoid biosynthesis. Taken together, the results obtained by proteome, transcriptome, and interactome approaches suggest that oxidative stress, ubiquitination, and glucosinolate degradation may be part of cowpea CE 31 resistance mechanisms in response to nematode infection.

Entomopathogenic and plant pathogenic nematodes as opposing forces in agriculture

“…A number of fundamental mechanisms appear to play a role in RKN resistance, including R genes such as Mi 1.2 in tomato plants, which encodes a member of the nucleotide binding leucine rich repeat gene family (Villeth et al, 2015), and the hypersensitive response, which appears to be a commonly employed mechanism for limiting RKN feeding capacities. In particular, a resistance gene referred to as RMc1(blb) in potatoes is known to limit nematode virulence by influencing the concentration of Ca 2+ in root cells near the nematode (Davies et al, 2015).…”

“…Much of the information available is limited to a level of detail that refers only to functional groups such as oxidative stress or ubiquitination as means of resistance (Kyndt et al, 2012; Villeth et al, 2015), and in cotton, overexpression of Meloidogyne -induced cotton 3 (MIC3) was able to dramatically reduce egg production by Meloidogyne incognita , but the function of MIC3 remains entirely unknown, and it does not appear to have any identifiable functional domains (Wubben et al, 2015). The interaction between plant parasitic nematodes and their hosts therefore represents an exciting field, potentially rich with novel interactions that in the future could be used to develop more stable and resistant crop plants.…”

Transcriptional profiling of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) during a compatible interaction with the cereal cyst nematode Heterodera avenae

“…Compatible plant-nematode interactions have revealed a large number of genes and pathways associated with nematode infection, which greatly helps us understand the parasitic mechanism of the nematode. Several high-throughput methods have been employed to analyse the transcriptional regulation of the host genes by nematode parasitism including microarrays 10–12 , proteomic analysis 13 and RNA-Seq 6,14 . Microarray analysis has been used to study the compatible interactions of soybean cyst nematode (SCN, H. glycines ) with soybean ( Glycine max L.).…”

Breeding and genetic management of drought in cowpea: Progress and technologies

“…However, proteomics research has been reported widely in biotic studies in cowpea but limited in drought tolerance studies. For instance, Villeth et al (2015) revealed that the results obtained by proteome, transcriptome, and interactome approaches suggest that oxidative stress, ubiquitination, and glucosinolate degradation may be part of cowpea CE 31 resistance mechanisms in response to nematode infection.…”