Two Candidate Effector Genes, and : A Functional Investigation of Their Roles in Regulating Nematode Parasitism.

During parasitism, root-knot nematode spp. inject molecules termed effectors that have multifunctional roles in construction and maintenance of nematode feeding sites. As an outcome of transcriptomic analysis of , we identified and characterized two differentially expressed genes encoding the predicted proteins MjShKT, carrying a toxin (ShKT) domain, and MjPUT3, carrying a ground-like domain, both expressed during nematode parasitism of the tomato plant.

The Minichromosome Maintenance Complex Component 2 (MjMCM2) of Meloidogyne javanica is a potential effector regulating the cell cycle in nematode-induced galls.

Root-knot nematodes Meloidogyne spp. induce enlarged multinucleate feeding cells-galls-in host plant roots. Although core cell-cycle components in galls follow a conserved track, they can also be usurped and manipulated by nematodes.