Abstract
Meloidogyne incognita is a plant-parasitic root-knot nematode (RKN, PPN) responsible for causing damage to several crops worldwide. In Caenorhabditis elegans, the DAF-16 and SKN-1 transcription factors (TFs) orchestrate aging, longevity, and defense responses to several stresses. Here, we report that MiDaf16-like1 and MiSkn1-like1, which are orthologous to DAF-16 and SKN-1 in C. elegans, and some of their targets, are modulated in M. incognita J2 during oxidative stress or plant parasitism. We used RNAi technology for the stable production of siRNAs in planta to downregulate the MiDaf16-like1 and MiSkn1-like1 genes of M. incognita during host plant parasitism. Arabidopsis thaliana and Nicotiana tabacum overexpressing a hairpin-derived dsRNA targeting these genes individually (single-gene silencing) or simultaneously (double-gene silencing) were generated. T2 plants were challenged with M. incognita and the number of eggs, galls, and J2, and the nematode reproduction factor (NRF) were evaluated. Our data indicate that MiDaf16-like1, MiSkn1-like1 and some genes from their networks are modulated in M. incognita J2 during oxidative stress or plant parasitism. Transgenic A. thaliana and N. tabacum plants with single- or double-gene silencing showed significant reductions in the numbers of eggs, J2, and galls, and in NRF. Additionally, the double-gene silencing plants had the highest resistance level. Gene expression assays confirmed the downregulation of the MiDaf16-like1 and MiSkn1-like1 TFs and defense genes in their networks during nematode parasitism in the transgenic plants. All these findings demonstrate that these two TFs are potential targets for the development of biotechnological tools for nematode control and management in economically important crops.
Highlights
Meloidogyne incognita is a plant-parasitic root-knot nematode (RKN, Plant-parasitic nematodes (PPNs)) responsible for causing damage to several crops worldwide
DAF-16 and SKN-1 transcription factors (TFs) were first identified in C. elegans and associated with the defense system against oxidative stress and increased nematode lifespan[40,41,42]
The Daf-16 orthologous genes showed low nucleotide (Fig. 1A) or amino acid (Fig. 1B) sequence identity when compared with those the C. elegans, other phytonematodes (Meloidogyne hapla, Globodera pallida and Bursaphelenchus xylophilus), the free-living nematode Pristionchus pacificus and the human parasite Strongyloides stercoralis
Summary
Meloidogyne incognita is a plant-parasitic root-knot nematode (RKN, PPN) responsible for causing damage to several crops worldwide. Gene expression assays confirmed the downregulation of the MiDaf16-like[1] and MiSkn1-like[1] TFs and defense genes in their networks during nematode parasitism in the transgenic plants All these findings demonstrate that these two TFs are potential targets for the development of biotechnological tools for nematode control and management in economically important crops. It is postulated that DAF-16 and SKN-1 can orchestrate some important immune adaptive responses to environmental stresses in PPNs during both oxidative stress and plant parasitism[13,19,20] These features suggest that the Daf-16 and Skn-1 genes are interesting targets for the development of RNA interference (RNAi)-based new biotechnological tools (NBTs) for nematode control. As a result of our study, we have characterized for the first time the functions of DAF-16 and SKN-1 TFs in the PPN M. incognita
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