Abstract
Root-knot nematodes are devastating plant-pathogens affecting agricultural productivity of major food crops world-wide. Current control strategies depend on a limited supply of nematode resistance genes. Hence, there is need for alternative control strategies. Here, we show that more subtle quantitative trait loci could be used as additional genetic resource for nematode control.
We mapped the genetic architecture of susceptibility in 340 natural isolates of Arabidopsis thaliana to Meloidogyne incognitia. We found ample genetic variation in M. incognita reproduction on these plants, with a narrow-sense heritability of 0.52. By genome wide association 19 associated loci were identified. Three loci were investigated by characterizing nine T-DNA knock-out mutants of candidate genes, identifying three (co-)regulators of nematode susceptibility in Arabidopsis: BZR1, FRNI1, and ERF6.
Our results suggest that allelic variation in susceptibility genes could be used to improve nematode resistance of plants, paving the way to investigate these traits in food-crops.
We mapped the genetic architecture of susceptibility in 340 natural isolates of Arabidopsis thaliana to Meloidogyne incognitia. We found ample genetic variation in M. incognita reproduction on these plants, with a narrow-sense heritability of 0.52. By genome wide association 19 associated loci were identified. Three loci were investigated by characterizing nine T-DNA knock-out mutants of candidate genes, identifying three (co-)regulators of nematode susceptibility in Arabidopsis: BZR1, FRNI1, and ERF6.
Our results suggest that allelic variation in susceptibility genes could be used to improve nematode resistance of plants, paving the way to investigate these traits in food-crops.
Original language | English |
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Publication status | Published - May 2019 |
Event | 7th plant genomics & gene editing congress: Europe - WTC, Rotterdam, Netherlands Duration: 21 May 2019 → 22 May 2019 |
Conference/symposium
Conference/symposium | 7th plant genomics & gene editing congress: Europe |
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Country/Territory | Netherlands |
City | Rotterdam |
Period | 21/05/19 → 22/05/19 |