Plant-parasitic nematodes threaten global agricultural and forestry systems. The search for new
control strategies in line with the EU’s sustainability goals highlight significant knowledge gaps.
Like all other plant pathogens, plant-parasitic nematodes deliver several parasitism proteins
(effectors) into the host plant to cause disease. NemaWAARS project focuses on mechanism(s)
of regulation and gene control expression of parasitism genes in pinewood nematode,
Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. From the previous transcriptomic data derived from the pharyngeal
gland cells (considered a specialized tissue potentially related to parasitism) we have identified
a non-coding DNA motif - STATAWAARS - associated in the promotor region of highly abundant
and secreted expressed genes. Given that this non-coding genetic signature unifies many
sequences of unrelated parasitism genes, it implies the existence of a potential major
regulator(s), that binds to this sequence to control the expression of downstream genes. We
hypothesize that by disrupting this regulator(s), it would be possible to simultaneously disrupt
the expression of many associated parasitism-related genes. To test the hypothesis the project
aims to identify proteins (or complex of proteins) that bind in the promoter regions of
parasitism-related genes (in vivo) or identify other regulatory candidates for master regulators
of parasitism-related genes expression that are enriched in the pharyngeal gland cell tissues. For
the best candidate regulatory proteins, an RNAi approach will target the selected gene
candidates and evaluate the regulatory role in effector genes expression and in interaction with
the host (in planta). Under an ongoing national and international collaborative network, the
strategy in NemaWAARS will include innovative approaches to explore the regulators that
govern effector gene expression applied in B. xylophilus research
