Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, College of Forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China.
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Prevention and Management of Invasive Species, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2019 Aug 1;20(15):3769. doi: 10.3390/ijms20153769.
The pine wood nematode (PWN), , is the pathogen responsible for pine wilt disease (PWD), a devastating forest disease with a pathogenic mechanism that remains unclear. Autophagy plays a crucial role in physiological and pathological processes in eukaryotes, but its regulatory mechanism and significance in PWN are unknown. Therefore, we cloned and characterized three autophagy genes, , , and in PWN. and were efficiently silenced through RNA interference, and we found that positively regulated the expression of . Silencing and severely inhibited feeding and reproduction in PWN, indicating that autophagy is essential for these processes. We then examined the expression patterns of these three autophagy genes in PWN under the stresses of α-pinene and HO, the main defense substances of pine trees, and during the development of PWD using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The expression levels of , , and all significantly increased after nematodes were stressed with α-pinene and HO and inoculated into pine trees, suggesting that autophagy plays an important role in the defense and pathogenesis of PWN. In this study, the molecular characteristics and functions of the autophagy genes , , and in PWN were elucidated.
松材线虫（PWN）是造成松材线虫萎蔫病（PWD）的病原体，这是一种具有破坏性的森林疾病，其发病机制尚不清楚。自噬在真核生物的生理和病理过程中起着至关重要的作用，但它在 PWN 中的调控机制和意义尚不清楚。因此，我们克隆和鉴定了 PWN 中的三个自噬基因、、。通过 RNA 干扰有效地沉默了和，我们发现正向调控的表达。沉默和严重抑制了 PWN 的取食和繁殖，表明自噬对于这些过程是必需的。然后，我们使用定量逆转录聚合酶链反应检测了这三个自噬基因在 PWN 受到α-蒎烯和 HO（松树的主要防御物质）胁迫以及 PWD 发展过程中的表达模式。线虫受到α-蒎烯和 HO 胁迫并接种到松树上后，、和的表达水平均显著升高，表明自噬在 PWN 的防御和发病机制中起重要作用。在这项研究中，阐明了 PWN 中自噬基因、、的分子特征和功能。
