Functional Roles of Small RNAs in Plant-Cyst Nematode Interactions

囊线虫是植物根部的寄生蛔虫，在许多农业系统中造成严重的产量和质量损失。在美国，大豆囊肿线虫是大豆生产中最严重的病原体问题。这些植物病原体的控制方法非常有限，需要对其生物学进行进一步研究以发现新的控制靶点。为了使囊线虫获得成功，它们需要能够在细胞和生理水平上完全改变其寄主植物。这些变化的核心是在线虫的控制下植物基因表达模式的大量改变，也就是说，这些植物寄生虫能够为自己的利益重新编程植物细胞。目前尚不清楚囊线虫是如何做到这一点的，但研究人员将利用模式植物拟南芥和甜菜囊线虫来探索一种与囊线虫寄生有关的新机制，即植物microRNAs （miRNAs）的作用，miRNAs是基因表达的强大调节剂。研究人员将描述他们已经证明在线虫感染部位具有活性的四种mirna，并将鉴定其他调节rna。因此，科学界将获得对囊线虫寄生的了解，更重要的是，该项目将确定干扰囊线虫寄生的潜在途径，目标是设计具有抗性的作物作物，这将消除全球数十亿美元的产量损失。更广泛的影响是培训年轻科学家，并使高中教师参与其中，他们将制作一个关于囊线虫的培训视频模块，这将成为各种背景的学生大开眼界的教学工具。

Cyst nematodes are parasitic roundworms of plant roots that cause severe yield and quality loss in many agricultural systems. In the US, the soybean cyst nematode is the most serious pathogen problem in soybean production. Only very limited control options for these plant pathogens exist and further research into their biology is needed to uncover novel control targets. In order for cyst nematodes to be successful, they need to be able to completely change their host plant at the cellular and physiological level. At the heart of these changes are massive alterations of plant gene expression patterns under the control of the nematode, i.e., these plant parasites are able to reprogram plant cells for their own benefit. It is unknown how cyst nematodes are able to do this, but the investigators will use the model plant Arabidopsis and the beet cyst nematode to explore a new mechanism that they have shown to be involved in cyst nematode parasitism, namely the effects of plant microRNAs (miRNAs), which are powerful regulators of gene expression. The investigators will characterize four miRNAs that they have shown to be active at the site of nematode infection and they will identify additional regulatory RNAs. As a result, the scientific community will gain understanding of cyst nematode parasitism and, more importantly, this project will identify potential avenues to interfere with cyst nematode parasitism with the goal to engineer crop plants that are resistant, which would eliminate billions of dollars in yield loss world-wide. Broader impacts are the training of young scientists as well as an involvement of high school teachers who will produce a training video module on cyst nematodes, which will be an eye-opening teaching tool for students of all backgrounds.