Changes in shoot and root architecture of Arabidopsis thaliana by increasing inoculum densities of the cyst nematode Heterodera schachtii

Some crop varieties show significant loss in biomass even though these are resistant to cyst nematodes. Interestingly, some non-resistant varieties show no symptoms at all. This phenotypical variation is also known as tolerance. In agronomic context, tolerant crop varieties are able to withstand injury and produce acceptable yields. Because of environmental and practical reasons, it is difficult to eradicate below-ground pathogens. Despite the increasing need for tolerance to below-ground pathogens, breeding for tolerance is not yet applied. This has 4 reasons:
1. Disease tolerance for soil-pathogens is difficult to quantify.
2. Unknown if there is enough useful quantitative variation in disease tolerance to soil-pathogens in different ecotypes.
3. The genetic complexity of disease tolerance is not well understood.
4. It is unclear whether disease tolerance has a negative effect on desirable traits.
This research focusses on investigating whether Arabidopsis thaliana could be used as a model plant to detect polymorphic alleles and the recombination or segregation of these alleles that are coding for tolerance.