Disrupting ‘Communication’ With Plants Could Limit Soybean Cyst Nematode Infections

Targeting a newly discovered vulnerability in the signals that cyst nematodes use to infect plant roots could be a powerful method for reducing the damage the parasitic worms cause in crops such as soybeans, according to a study co-authored by an Iowa State University professor.

Researchers identified a single protein in cyst nematodes that triggers dozens of the chemical signals called effectors that the microscopic roundworms release inside roots to hijack plant cells and make themselves a home, said Thomas Baum, a distinguished professor of plant pathology, entomology and microbiology at Iowa State University.

Though the protein – a transcription factor that binds to genes, turning them on or off – is likely one of several that regulate effector production, researchers found that without it the nematode infection is severely reduced, according to the study recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. That could lead to major progress in reducing the destructiveness of soybean cyst nematodes, which cost U.S. farmers nearly 90 million bushels in production last year – by far the crop’s most damaging pest.

“Now we have a validated target, a tangible molecular event involving a single transcription factor. It’s a proof of concept that opens the door to various new ways of thinking about nematode management,” said Baum, a co-author of the study.

Read more at Iowa State University

Photo Credit: A photo of a cyst nematode's head viewed through a high-power microscope shows its esophageal glands, which produce effectors it uses to infect host plants. The image was digitally edited to highlight the glands. The subventral glands responsible for SUGR-1 are colored blue. (Photo illustration by Tom Maier and Thomas Baum/Iowa State University)