Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L. cv. Monogerm C.S.F. 1971) seeds sown into Vineland fine sandy loam, infested with 15,500 H. schachtii juveniles/pot, showed little growth during an 11-week test in the greenhouse. Seedlings transplanted at 2, 4, and 6 weeks of age had 32, 30, and 31% less top weight and 71, 68, and 59% less root weight, respectively, compared to controls grown in nematode-free soil....

Pasteuria strain S-1 was found to parasitize the sting nematode Belonolaimus longicaudatus. S-1 spores attached to several strains of B. longicaudatus from different geographical locations within the United States. However, they did not adhere to any of the following species: Heterodera schachtii, Longidorus africanus, Meloidogyne hapla, M. incognita, M. javanica, Pratylenchus brachyurus, P. sc...

Cyst nematodes induce a metabolically highly active syncytial cell complex in host roots. The syncytia are symplastically isolated. Because they form a strong sink, assimilates must be imported via the apoplast, thus suggesting that specific membrane-bound sugar transport proteins are expressed and activated. To identify possible candidate genes, transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing differe...

Plants and animals produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) in response to infection. In plants, ROS not only activate defense responses and promote cell death to limit the spread of pathogens but also restrict the amount of cell death in response to pathogen recognition. Plants also use hormones, such as salicylic acid, to mediate immune responses to infection. However, there are long-lasting bio...

The beet cyst nematode Heterodera schachtii induces syncytia in the roots of Arabidopsis thaliana, which are its only nutrient source. One gene, At1g64110, that is strongly up-regulated in syncytia as shown by RT-PCR, quantitative RT-PCR, in situ RT-PCR and promoter::GUS lines, encodes an AAA+-type ATPase. Expression of two related genes in syncytia, At4g28000 and At5g52882, was not detected or...

Stem cell pools in the SAM (shoot apical meristem), RAM (root apical meristem) and vascular procambium/cambium are regulated by CLE-receptor kinase-WOX signaling modules. Previous data showed that cyst nematode CLE-like effector proteins delivered into host cells through a stylet, act as ligand mimics of plant A-type CLE peptides and are pivotal for successful parasitism. Here we report the ide...

The plant-parasitic nematode Heterodera schachtii stimulates plant root cells to form syncytial feeding structures which synthesize all nutrients required for successful nematode development. Cellular re-arrangements and modified metabolism of the syncytia are accompanied by massive intra- and intercellular solute allocations. In this study the expression of all genes annotated as sugar transpo...