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Cyst Nematodes and Syncytia

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Genomics and Molecular Genetics of Plant-Nematode Interactions

Abstract

Plant-parasitic nematodes from the genera Heterodera and Globodera change the morphogenetic programme of plant root cells and induce development of a specific feeding site called a syncytium. The syncytium is the only source of nutrients for developing parasites and functions only for the nematode’s benefit. Its development begins from a single cell selected by the infective second stage juvenile. The selected initial syncytial cell and neighbouring cells undergo a sequence of changes leading to the rearrangement of their protoplasts. They become hypertrophied and some parts of their walls partially dissolve forming local cell wall openings. Several tens of stimulated plant cells undergo this process leading to the formation of a single confluent and multinuclear protoplast (syncytium). The syncytium’s metabolism is controlled by the nematode. Typical cytological features of a syncytium include a decrease in vacuole volume, proliferation of the amount of cytoplasm and number of its organelles and hypertrophy of syncytial nuclei and nucleoli. Resistant plants can also be parasitized by infective juveniles of cyst nematodes, but the resistance responses evoked by nematode stimulation lead to the formation of syncytia that are unable to provide the amount of nutrients necessary for the development of females of the parasite. Thus mostly males develop on resistant plants.

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Acknowledgements

The Authors are grateful to Shahid Siddique, Ahmed Soliman, Kamila Koropacka and Aneta Karczmarek for providing research materials that were used to prepare this publication. Some of the Authors’ research presented above was supported by grants of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the EU COST Action 872.

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  1. Department of Botany, Faculty of Agriculture and Biology, Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW), Nowoursynowska 159, Building 37, 02-776, Warsaw, Poland

    Miroslaw Sobczak & Wladyslaw Golinowski

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  1. Miroslaw Sobczak
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  2. Wladyslaw Golinowski
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Correspondence to Miroslaw Sobczak .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Plant Pathology, Scottish Crop Research Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee, DD2 5DA, United Kingdom

    John Jones

  2. , Molecular Biotechnology, Ghent University, Coupure links 653, Ghent, 9000, Belgium

    Godelieve Gheysen

  3. , Environmental Sciences, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Avda. Carlos III. s/n, Toledo, E-45071, Spain

    Carmen Fenoll

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Sobczak, M., Golinowski, W. (2011). Cyst Nematodes and Syncytia. In: Jones, J., Gheysen, G., Fenoll, C. (eds) Genomics and Molecular Genetics of Plant-Nematode Interactions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0434-3_4

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