Engineered bacteria confuse worm nerves to protect tomato roots
Crop Improvement
If your tomato plants have ever mysteriously wilted and died with gnarled, swollen roots, root-knot nematodes were likely the culprit, and this research points toward a spray-free way to stop them.
Tiny worms called plant parasitic nematodes attack plant roots and cost farmers billions each year, but the chemicals once used to kill them have been banned for harming the environment. Researchers engineered a harmless soil bacterium to feed nematode nerve signals, called neuropeptides, directly to the worms, and found that certain ones scrambled their behavior enough to protect young tomato plants from invasion. They then traced one promising signal, nlp-15, to the worm's sensory nerve cells and began building tomato plants that could silence this gene in any nematode trying to feed on them.
Key Findings
A Bacillus subtilis delivery system fed neuropeptides to Meloidogyne incognita and Globodera pallida, inducing abnormal behavior that protected tomato seedlings from invasion
The neuropeptide gene nlp-15 was localized to anterior nervous system cells in Radopholus similis, suggesting a role in sensory perception
Multiple RNA interference and virus-induced gene silencing protocols were tested to knock down nlp-15, and a transgenic tomato RNAi construct targeting the gene was developed
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists found a way to use harmless soil bacteria to deliver nematode-specific signaling molecules that scramble the nerve function of crop-damaging roundworms, offering a potential replacement for banned chemical pesticides.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Investigating the role of neuropeptides in plant parasitic nematodes
Plant parasitic nematodes (PPNs) devastate agriculture on a global scale causing severe annual economic losses. Withdrawal of the chemical nematicides used to control PPNs, due to their harmful env...
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