ForestGEN
Forest EST and Genome database

Description

The pine wood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus is basically a species of mycophagous and plant parasitic nematode native to North America, and inhabits naturally dead pine trees, Pinus spp. This notorious nematode is known as a pathogen of pine wilt disease, which is devastating East Asian (Japan, Korea, Taiwan and continental China) and a part of European (Portugal) pine forests. Although the detailed disease mechanism has not yet been clarified, pine wilt is considered to be a type of wilting disease caused by occlusion of trachea. The general disease cycle is as follows. In early summer, the primary vectors of the disease, Monochamus alternatus (in East Asia) or M. galloprovincialis (in EU), which harbor the dispersal fourth stage (dauer) juveniles of B. xylophilus in their tracheal system, emerge from dead pine trees and feed on the twigs of healthy pine trees for their maturation. The nematodes invade their healthy host trees through the feeding wounds made by vectors, then feed on plant tissue to multiply and kill their host trees. After the death of their host trees, the nematodes feed on fungi growing on the dead trees and maintain their population until the next infection season. Then the matured vectors mate and lay eggs on newly dead trees, where the nematodes are propagating, and the eggs grow into adult vectors the next season.

Taisei Kikuchi, Takuya Aikawa, Natsumi Kanzaki, Hajime Kosaka
Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI)
Department of Forest Microbiology
Nobuo Ogura
Meiji Univewrsity
John T. Jones
Scottish Crop Research Institute
PPI Programme

EST : 13327
Cluster : 6491
SubCluster : 6537

Mixed-stage (feeding on fungi) library : CJ978958- CJ988151
Dauer-like stage library : CJ988152- CJ990808
Mixed-stage (feeding on plant) library : CJ990809- CJ992284

# Acknowledgement #

Pine wood nematode EST project was supported by:
Research Grant #200302 of the FFPRI

# References #

1. Kikuchi, T., Aikawa, T., Kosaka, H., Pritchard, L., Ogura, N., and Jones, J. T. (2007). Expressed sequence tag (EST) analysis of the pine wood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus and B. mucronatus. Mol Biochem Parasitol 155, 9-17.
2. Kikuchi, T., Jones, J. T., Aikawa, T., Kosaka, H., and Ogura, N. (2004). A family of glycosyl hydrolase family 45 cellulases from the pine wood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. FEBS Lett 572, 201-205.
3. Kikuchi, T., Shibuya, H., Aikawa, T., and Jones, J. T. (2006). Cloning and characterization of pectate lyases expressed in the esophageal gland of the pine wood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. Mol Plant-Microbe Interact 19, 280-287.
4. Kikuchi, T., Shibuya, H., and Jones, J. T. (2005). Molecular and biochemical characterization of an endo-beta-1,3-glucanase from the pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus acquired by horizontal gene transfer from bacteria. Biochem J 389, 117-125.

# Link #

Department of Forest Microbiology