Nematode effectors and plant responses to infection

Genomic resources in Arabidopsis have made possible the discovery of plant genes that mediate the nematode infection process, particularly the complex process of root re-differentiation into either knots or cysts. The genomic DNA sequences of two root knot nematodes have been characterized and considerable sequence coverage of cDNA from several cyst nematodes is available. These resources have enabled the discovery of several nematode effectors that play roles in causing susceptibility. RNAi has been used to create Arabidopsis plants that are resistant to root knot or to cyst nematodes and this has been extended to make soybean resistant to the cyst nematode.