Feng, Tuizi;Chen, Yuan;Li, Zhourong;Pei, Ji;Peng, Deliang;Peng, Huan;Long, Haibo

Chinese Acad Trop Agr Sci, Environm & Plant Protect Inst, Key Lab Integrated Pest Management Trop Crops, Minist Agr & Rural Affairs, Haikou 571101, Peoples R China;Chinese Acad Agr Sci, State Key Lab Biol Plant Dis & Insect Pests, Inst Plant Protect, Beijing 100193, Peoples R China;Chinese Acad Trop Agr Sci, Environm & Plant Protect Inst, Hainan Key Lab Monitoring & Control Trop Agr Pests, Haikou 571101, Peoples R China

Meloidogyne enterolobii;effector;chorismate mutase;salicylic acid;plant immunity

Meloidogyne spp. is an economically important plant-parasitic nematode distributed worldwide. To fight with host immune system for successful parasitism, plant parasitic nematodes secrete effectors to promote infection. In this study, we identified one chorismate mutase (CM) effector from M. enterolobii, named Me-CM. Spatial and temporal expression assays exhibited Me-cm is expressed in esophageal glands and up-regulated at parasitic-stage juveniles. Me-CM affects the pathogenicity of M. enterolobii based on the reduced infection rate, number of galls, egg masses, eggs per mass and multiplication rate collected from RNA silencing experiments. We showed that Me-CM localized in the cytoplasm and nucleus of plant cells and decreased the expression level of the marker gene PR1 of salicylic acid (SA) pathway. Besides, constitutive expression of Me-cm in Arabidopsis thaliana significantly reduced salicylic acid concentration. These results suggested that M. enterolobii may secrete effector Me-CM to fight with plant immune systems via regulating SA signaling pathway when interacting with host plants, ultimately facilitating parasitism.