A matter of perspective : Root adaptive responses to endoparasitic cystnematodes

Abstract

Root architecture plasticity in response to endoparasitic cyst nematodes is mediated by damage signaling Chapter 3 53 WOX11-mediated adventitious lateral root formation modulates tolerance of Arabidopsis to cyst nematode infections Chapter 4 81 WOX11-mediated cell size control in Arabidopsis attenuates fecundity of endoparasitic cyst nematodes Chapter 5 Shifting perspectives: the roles of plant cellular reprogramming during nematode parasitism Chapter 6 General discussion Small but huge: the impact of microscopic worms on EarthNematodes are the most abundant animals on Earth. They are found in most ecosystems, at all latitudes and altitudes, in fresh or marine water, and soil. It was estimated that only the nematodes in the soil make up four-fifths of the animals on Earth, occupying all trophic levels of the soil food web (van den Hoogen et al., 2019). While there are approximately 30,000 known nematode species, only around 4,300 of them are plant parasites (Ali et al., 2017). Among these plant-parasitic nematodes, a relatively small percentage, roughly 6%, inflict severe damage to agricultural crops. This damage results in up to 12.3% of global yield losses (Abad et al., 2008;Jones et al., 2013). Yet, these agricultural losses are only the tip of the iceberg, as experts believe that a significant portion of yield losses mistakenly attributed to abiotic stress is actually due to plant-parasitic nematodes (Nicol et al., 2011;Jones et al., 2013). Aboveground symptoms of nematode infection, such as yellowing leaves, stunted plants, and wilting, are nonspecific, leading to misdiagnosis as water and nutrient deficiencies. In contrast, the specific signs of nematode infection, such as the formation of galls, the presence of cysts, root swelling, and root lesions, remain concealed belowground (Nicol et al., 2011).