title: Inducible antibacterial defence in the plant parasitic nematode Meloidogyne artiellia.
abstract: Animals and plants both respond rapidly to pathogens by inducing the expression of defence-related genes. Within this context, a prominent role has been assigned to the lysozyme. In the present study we isolated and carried out detailed analysis of the lysozyme gene in the plant nematode Meloidogyne artiellia. The expression of lysozyme was up-regulated following exposure of M. artiellia juveniles to the Gram-negative bacterium Serratia marcescens. On the other hand, when isolated eggs containing embryos at various developmental stages were challenged with bacteria, no increase in lysozyme expression was detected. Evidence of lysozyme expression regulation was obtained in the case of adult male and females worms collected from soil. The lysozyme gene was expressed solely in the nematode intestine and, as it is predicted to be secreted, may protect the nematode from microbial infections originating in the intestinal lumen or in the pseudocoelom. This paper demonstrates, to our knowledge for the first time, the immune response to infection in a plant parasitic nematode.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biochimica e Biologia Molecolare, Università di Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fanelli
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dileo
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Di Vito
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Giorgi
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D007422:Intestines / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009113:Muramidase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010944:Plants / Q000469:parasitology; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D016868:Serratia Infections / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology*; D012706:Serratia marcescens; D014431:Tylenchoidea / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D009113:Muramidase