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2024-12-28T01:28:00.0000000Z
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Editorial: Plant Parasitic Nematode-Host Interactions: Mechanisms and Exploitative Management Strategies

Frontiers


  • 1 The James Hutton Institute, Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom
  • 2 University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
  • 3 Agronema (Brazil), Londrina, Paraná, Brazil
  • 4 University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

By 2060, the human population on Earth is expected to reach 10 billion people and food production to sustain this population is of great concern. Food security is not only pressurised by abiotic factors associated with a rapidly changing climate but also by biotic, pathogenic threats. In many areas of the world, plant-parasitic nematodes (PPN) are the greatest stress on sustainable crop production. However, PPN parasitise all aspects of plant life and, where left unmanaged, could lead to major ecological collapse. Historically, management of PPN relied on incorporation of harmful, non-specific chemicals into infested soils. Generally, PPN control has moved towards integrated pest management (IPM) approaches. This research topic addresses how a better understanding of nematode-host interactions can help further develop management strategies.

Although reliance on nematicidal chemicals should be reduced under an IPM approach, they remain an important part of pest management. Many manufactured products are being removed from international markets due to harmful off-target effects. Consequently, there is urgent need for new nematicidal products which are often being developed with naturally occurring ingredients in agreement with green deals. Having plant origin means that these products can be interpreted by the crop boosting defence pathways for defence against any pathogen, not just PPN, in addition to direct nematicidal effects. This is demonstrated by Degroote et al. in their use of the bio-based ‘Product X’ which was shown to considerably reduce Meloidogyne incognita gall formation in tomato plants. The ongoing boon in availability of -omics data may help shift towards novel bio-based nematode controls such as exogenous application of microRNAs. These technologies offer the opportunity of incredibly targeted control identified through bioinformatics pipelines. Leonetti et al. established the use of a pipeline for identification and creation of cross-kingdom miRNAs, in this case originating from tomatoes and capable of reducing expression of two key M. incognita target genes. The use of miRNAs for nematode control is still a developing area and further research will be required on construct delivery in an applied setting.

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Nematodes

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