scholarly journals Bx-daf-22 Contributes to Mate Attraction in the Gonochoristic Nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (17) ◽  
pp. 4316
Author(s):  
Mengge Gao ◽  
Yongxia Li ◽  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Pengfei Wei ◽  
Xuan Wang ◽  
...  

Studying sex communication is necessary to develop new methods to control the population expansion of gonochoristic species Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, the pathogen of pine wilt disease (PWD). Small chemical signals called ascarosides have been reported to attract potential mates. However, they have not been studied in the sex attraction of B. xylophilus. Here, we confirmed the sex attraction of B. xylophilus using a chemotaxis assay. Then, we cloned the downstream ascaroside biosynthetic gene Bx-daf-22 and explored its function in the sex attraction of B. xylophilus through bioinformatics analysis and RNA interference. The secretions of females and males were the sources of sex attraction in B. xylophilus, and the attractiveness of females to males was stronger than that of males to females. Compared with daf-22 of Caenorhabditis elegans, Bx-daf-22 underwent gene duplication events, resulting in Bx-daf-22.1, Bx-daf-22.2, and Bx-daf-22.3. RNA interference revealed that the attractiveness of female secretions to males increased after all three Bx-daf-22 genes or Bx-daf-22.3 had been interfered. However, the reciprocal experiments had no effect on the attractiveness of male secretions to females. Thus, Bx-daf-22 genes, especially Bx-daf-22.3, may be crucial for the effectiveness of female sex attractants. Our studies provide fundamental information to help identify the specific components and signal pathways of sex attractants in B. xylophilus.

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 386-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Lundstrom

Epigenetic mechanisms comprising of DNA methylation, histone modifications and gene silencing by RNA interference have been strongly linked to the development and progression of various diseases. These findings have triggered research on epigenetic functions and signal pathways as targets for novel drug discovery. Dietary intake has also presented significant influence on human health and disease development and nutritional modifications have proven important in prevention, but also the treatment of disease. Moreover, a strong link between nutrition and epigenetic changes has been established. Therefore, in attempts to develop novel safer and more efficacious drugs, both nutritional requirements and epigenetic mechanisms need to be addressed.


1988 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 606-615 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keiko KURODA ◽  
Toshihiro YAMADA ◽  
Kazuhiko MINEO ◽  
Hirotada TAMURA

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hwan-Su Hwang ◽  
Jung Yeon Han ◽  
Yong Eui Choi

Abstract Pine wood nematodes (PWNs: Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) infect pine trees and cause serious pine wilt disease. Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) has resistance to PWN. However, the detailed defense mechanisms of P. strobus against PWN are not well known. When P. strobus plants were infected with PWNs, the accumulation of stilbenoids, dihydropinosylvin monomethyl ether (DPME) and pinosylvin monomethyl ether (PME), were increased remarkably. DPME and PME had the high nematicidal activity. Interestingly, the nematicidal activity of the two compounds was resulted in a developmental stage-dependent manner. PME was more toxic to adult PWNs than juveniles, whereas DPME was found more toxic to juvenile PWNs than the adults. The genes involved in PME and DPME biosynthesis such as phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), 4-coumarate-CoA ligase (4CL), pinosylvin synthase (STS), and pinosylvin O-methyltransferase (PMT) were isolated using de novo sequencing of the transcriptome in P. strobus. In addition, transcription factors (bHLH, MYB and WRKY) related to stilbene biosynthesis were isolated. qPCR analyses of the selected genes (PAL, 4CL, STS, and PMT) including transcription factors (bHLH, MYB and WRKY) revealed that the expression level of the selected genes highly enhanced after PWN infection. Our results suggest that pinosylvin-type stilbenoid biosynthesis is highly responsive to PWN infection and plays an important role in PWN resistance of P. strobus trees.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Nunes da Silva ◽  
Carla S. Santos ◽  
Ana Cruz ◽  
Adrián López-Villamor ◽  
Marta W. Vasconcelos

AbstractThe pine wilt disease (PWD), for which no effective treatment is available at the moment, is a constant threat to Pinus spp. plantations worldwide, being responsible for significant economic and environmental losses every year. It has been demonstrated that elicitation with chitosan increases plant tolerance to the pinewood nematode (PWN) Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, the causal agent of the PWD, but the biochemical and genetic aspects underlying this response have not been explored. To understand the influence of chitosan in Pinus pinaster tolerance against PWN, a low-molecular-weight (327 kDa) chitosan was applied to mock- and PWN-inoculated plants. Nematode population, malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase, carotenoids, anthocyanins, phenolic compounds, lignin and gene expression related to oxidative stress (thioredoxin 1, TRX) and plant defence (defensin, DEF, and a-farnesene synthase, AFS), were analysed at 1, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days post-inoculation (dpi). At 28 dpi, PWN-infected plants elicited with chitosan showed a sixfold lower nematode population when compared to non-elicited plants. Higher levels of MDA, catalase, carotenoids, anthocyanins, phenolic compounds, and lignin were detected in chitosan-elicited plants following infection. The expression levels of DEF gene were higher in elicited plants, while TRX and AFS expression was lower, possibly due to the disease containment-effect of chitosan. Combined, we conclude that chitosan induces pine defences against PWD via modulation of metabolic and transcriptomic mechanisms related with plant antioxidant system.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Jorge M. S. Faria ◽  
Ana Margarida Rodrigues ◽  
Pedro Barbosa ◽  
Manuel Mota

Chemical control has been the most effective and reliable containment strategy in integrated pest management of pine wilt disease (PWD), caused by the pinewood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. Yet, large spectrum nematicides can be dangerous to human health and the environment. Essential oils (EOs) are safer sustainable alternatives, being composed of highly active natural compounds. A survey of bibliographic data on the detailed chemical composition and activity of the EOs used against the PWN allowed pinpointing monoterpenes as the main source of structures with agonist or antagonist properties. Transversal EO data treatment can identify potential highly active anti-PWN compounds.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 68
Author(s):  
Margarita Alonso Santos ◽  
María Menéndez-Gutiérrez ◽  
Raquel Díaz Vazquez

Pine wilt disease was detected in Galicia (North West of Spain) in 2010. Two-year-old seedlings of seven pine species were inoculated with B. xylophilus, and three different groups were stablished: non-susceptible (P. canariensis, P. taeda, P. halepensis, and P. pinea); susceptible (P. pinaster, P. radiata), and highly-susceptible (P. sylvestris). We aimed to determine the interspecific variation of constitutive compounds levels, groups and species, and their relationships with nematode multiplication and mortality. Needles of the non-susceptible group had significantly less water and more nitrogen, potassium, iron, and starch than the others groups; the cortex and phloem of the non-susceptible group had more nitrogen, phosphorus, manganese, and starch, and less potassium, calcium, iron, total polyphenols, condensed tannins and liposoluble substances than the highly susceptible group. The xylem of the non-susceptible group had more N, P, Mg, Mn, total polyphenols, and starch than the other groups. Higher levels of constitutive N and/or starch in any tissue was related with less mortality and nematode multiplication; higher P in the three tissues was also correlated with less nematode multiplication. Moreover, liposoluble substances, soluble carbohydrates and condensed tannin concentration in the needles were negatively correlated with nematode multiplication. On the contrary, in the needles, water content and K were positively correlated with mortality and nematode invasion.


Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 453
Author(s):  
Zi-Yi Zhang ◽  
Jia-Yin Guan ◽  
Yu-Rou Cao ◽  
Xin-Yi Dai ◽  
Kenneth B. Storey ◽  
...  

We determined the mitochondrial gene sequence of Monochamus alternatus and three other mitogenomes of Lamiinae (Insect: Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) belonging to three genera (Aulaconotus, Apriona and Paraglenea) to enrich the mitochondrial genome database of Lamiinae and further explore the phylogenetic relationships within the subfamily. Phylogenetic trees of the Lamiinae were built using the Bayesian inference (BI) and maximum likelihood (ML) methods and the monophyly of Monochamus, Anoplophora, and Batocera genera was supported. Anoplophora chinensis, An. glabripennis and Aristobia reticulator were closely related, suggesting they may also be potential vectors for the transmission of the pine wood pathogenic nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) in addition to M. alternatus, a well-known vector of pine wilt disease. There is a special symbiotic relationship between M. alternatus and Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. As the native sympatric sibling species of B. xylophilus, B. mucronatus also has a specific relationship that is often overlooked. The analysis of mitochondrial gene expression aimed to explore the effect of B. mucronatus on the energy metabolism of the respiratory chain of M. alternatus adults. Using RT-qPCR, we determined and analyzed the expression of eight mitochondrial protein-coding genes (COI, COII, COIII, ND1, ND4, ND5, ATP6, and Cty b) between M. alternatus infected by B. mucronatus and M. alternatus without the nematode. Expression of all the eight mitochondrial genes were up-regulated, particularly the ND4 and ND5 gene, which were up-regulated by 4–5-fold (p < 0.01). Since longicorn beetles have immune responses to nematodes, we believe that their relationship should not be viewed as symbiotic, but classed as parasitic.


2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 272-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albina R. Franco ◽  
Carla Santos ◽  
Mariana Roriz ◽  
Rui Rodrigues ◽  
Marta R. M. Lima ◽  
...  

Pine wilt disease, caused by the pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Steiner and Buhrer) Nickle, is originating severe infections in pine trees. The disease is detected when external symptoms appear (e.g. needle chlorosis), but trees could remain asymptomatic for long periods and serve as a long-term host. The primary goal of this study was to assess the effect of inoculation with an avirulent isolate of B. xylophilus (C14-5) on different Pinus spp. seedlings (P. sylvestris, P. nigra, P. pinea and P. pinaster). At the same time, seedlings were also inoculated with a virulent strain, HF, in order to compare the phenotypic and genomic results of the two types of inoculations. The effect of inoculation was determined in terms of expression of various Pinus genes potentially involved in the response to the disease.The results suggest that P. pinea and P. nigra are more resistant to infection by the nematode than P. sylvestris and P. pinaster. The phenotypic and genetic differences were more marked among P. pinea and P. pinaster.


2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. e12564
Author(s):  
Marta Salgueiro Alves ◽  
Anabela Pereira ◽  
Cláudia Vicente ◽  
Manuel Mota ◽  
Isabel Henriques

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 265
Author(s):  
Joana M.S. Cardoso ◽  
Luís Fonseca ◽  
Isabel Abrantes

The pinewood nematode (PWN) Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, the causal agent of the pine wilt disease (PWD), enters above-ground parts of the tree, migrates through the resin canals and feeds on plant cells causing extensive damage. In order to penetrate the cell wall and establish a parasitic relationship with host trees, the PWN needs to secretea mixture of active cell wall degrading enzymes. In maritime pine, Pinus pinaster, which is high susceptible to PWN, xyloglucan is the major hemicellulosic polysaccharide in primary cells. The xyloglucan backbone is susceptible to hydrolysis by numerous endoglucanases, some of them specific to xyloglucan. However, to completely degrade xyloglucan, all substitutions on the glucan backbones must be released, and l-fucose residues in xyloglucan branches are released by α-l-fucosidases. In the present study, the molecular characterization of two α-l-fucosidases found in PWN secretome was performed. Moreover, a novel α-l-fucosidase was identified and its cDNA and gene sequence were determined. The three-dimensional structures of these α-l-fucosidases were predicted and the transcript levels were analyzed, thus providing new insights into fundamental PWN biology and the possible role of these proteins as cell wall degrading enzymes.


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