Arabidopsis thaliana as a new model host for plant‐parasitic nematodes

Abstract

Summary We have established culture conditions for successful infection and development of several economically important cyst‐forming and root‐knot nematodes on Arabidopsis thaliana under monoxenic conditions. Complete life cycles were obtained with the sedentary cyst nematodes Heterodera schachtii, H. trifolii, H. cajani and the root‐knot nematodes Meloidogyne incognita and M. arenariaas well as with the migratory nematode Pratylenchus penetrans. In contrast, H. goettingiana and Globodera rostochiensis were unable to develop on Arabidopsis roots. Tissue‐culture quality agar and medium conditions optimized for hydroponic root culture were essential for successful infections. Detailed in‐vivo observations were made inside Arabidopsis roots during the early infection stages of M. incognita and during complete development of H. schachtii. Seventy‐four different ecotypes of Arabidopsis were screened for their susceptibility towards H. schachtii resulting in a range of infection rates. None of the ecotypes tested showed complete resistance in vitro. The use of Arabidopsis as a host for plant‐parasitic nematodes will provide a new model system for the molecular genetic analysis of this interaction.

Different quantitative trait loci for Fusarium resistance in wheat seedlings and adult stage in the Wuhan/Nyubai wheat population

“…The data for level of FSB infection were normally distributed and not transformed. Correlations of the traits studied were calculated using PROC CORR (SAS Institute Inc. 2003). The level of signiWcance used for statistical analyses was P = 0.05 unless otherwise stated.…”

“…Normality and homogeneity of variance for the data was tested using PROC UNIVARIATE test (SAS Institute Inc. 2003). The data for level of FSB infection were normally distributed and not transformed.…”

“…Seedling assays were conducted individually on slants of Knop agar (Knop, 1860, in Sijmons et al 1991) medium (1 g KNO3; 0.12 g KCl; 0.25 g KH 2 PO 4 ; 0.25 g MgSO 4 £ H 2 O; trace FeCl £ 6 H 2 O; 15 g agar, and 1 l distilled water) in glass tubes in four replications in the laboratory. The experiment was repeated two times.…”

Nematode Pathogenesis and Resistance in Plants

“…Once the corresponding genes are mapped, positional cloning should be relatively straightforward. Unfortunately, no resistance to nematodes has yet been found in Arabidopsis, although there seem to be differences in infectivity between ecotypes (Sijmons et al, 1991). Only a limited number of nematode species have been tested, however, and it may be that …”

Hairy root induction in Oriental melon (Cucumis melo) by Agrobacterium rhizogenes and reproduction of the root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita)

“…Mono-xenic culture systems have been used for the propagation of plant-parasite nematodes on Arabidopsis roots and in carrot disk cultures (Sijmons et al 1991;Verdejo-Lucas and Pinochet 1992). Meanwhile, a hairy root system was also developed and applied to the in vitro culturing of plant-pathogen nematodes (Cho et al 2000).…”