title: Arabidopsis thaliana mutants with an altered susceptibility to the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita.
abstract: Sedentary endoparasitic nematodes of plants are obligate parasites of roots in which they complete their sophisticated life cycle. To study the plant/root-knot nematode interaction, a screening was performed for mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana that were less susceptible to nematode infection. Ethyl methanesulfonate-mutagenized A. thaliana M2 seeds (13,000) were germinated and the seedlings were screened in vitro for nematode susceptibility. Another 5,000 plants were screened in a sand mixture under glasshouse conditions. Ten mutants that were at least a 2-fold less susceptible than the wild-type were retained and analyzed in more detail in vitro as well as in the greenhouse. All mutants with a fairly normal morphology had only a slightly, but reproducibly, decreased susceptibility to nematodes. One mutant (AMi 2) with a 17-fold lower susceptibility to nematode infection and an aberrant phenotype could be rescued by tryptophan.
authors.affiliation: Vakgroep Moleculaire Genetica, Department Plantengenetica, Vlaams Interuniversitair Instituut voor Biotechnologie, Universiteit Gent, K.L. Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Vercauteren
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Niebel
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Van Montagu
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gheysen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000469:parasitology*; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005260:Female; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000469:parasitology*; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology*; D012639:Seeds / Q000235:genetics / Q000469:parasitology; D014431:Tylenchoidea / Q000502:physiology*