Transcriptional signatures of invasiveness in Meloidogyne incognita populations from sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Meloidogyne incognita is an economically important plant parasitic nematode. Here we demonstrate substantial variation in the invasiveness of four M. incognita populations relative to tomato. Infective (J2) stage transcriptomes reveal significant variation in the expression of proteincoding and non-coding RNAs between populations. We identify 33 gene expression markers (GEMs) that correlate with invasiveness, and which map to genes with predicted roles in host-finding and invasion, including neuropeptides, ion channels, GPCRs, cell wall-degrading enzymes and microRNAs. These data demonstrate a surprising diversity in microRNA complements between populations, and identify GEMs for invasiveness of M. incognita for the first time.

Ethylene Response Factor (ERF) genes modulate plant root exudate composition and the attraction of plant parasitic nematodes

“…in response to exudates collected after ABC transport gene knockdown (Cox et al, 2019a). For this line of research to develop robust and durable new sources of PPN resistance, it will be important to establish the behavioural impacts that such interventions have on geographically coincident species, as well as different populations of a given species (Cox et al, 2019b). Nonetheless, our data indicate that ERF-E2 knockdown phenocopies the enhanced attraction of certain PPN species, which is also observed following the inhibition of ethylene signalling (Fudali et al, 2013;Hu et al, 2017).…”

“…Considerable progress has been made in developing novel sources of resistance to the parasitic plant, Striga spp., through the manipulation of root exudate composition (;Jamil et al, 2011;Samejima et al, 2016;Gobena et al, 2017). Whilst there is still much unknown about how PPNs perceive and respond to plant root exudates, recent work continues to provide valuable insight into their ex planta biology and behaviour (Warnock et al, 2016;Čepulytė et al, 2018;Hoysted et al, 2018;Kirwa et al, 2018;Bell et al, 2019;Cox et al, 2019aCox et al, , 2019bTsai et al, 2019;). Briefly, Meloidogyne spp.…”

Highly divergent neuropeptide – non-coding RNA regulatory networks underpin variant host-finding behaviours in Steinernema species infective juveniles

“…MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that regulate the expression of target genes. Considerable research effort has focused on the role of microRNAs in development, but increasingly, studies are linking microRNAs and other small RNAs to diverse aspects of biology, including behaviour (Cox et al, 2019;Warnock et al, 2019). A total of 930 microRNAs were identified across all three species.…”