title: Genome sequence of the metazoan plant-parasitic nematode Meloidogyne incognita.
abstract: Plant-parasitic nematodes are major agricultural pests worldwide and novel approaches to control them are sorely needed. We report the draft genome sequence of the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita, a biotrophic parasite of many crops, including tomato, cotton and coffee. Most of the assembled sequence of this asexually reproducing nematode, totaling 86 Mb, exists in pairs of homologous but divergent segments. This suggests that ancient allelic regions in M. incognita are evolving toward effective haploidy, permitting new mechanisms of adaptation. The number and diversity of plant cell wall-degrading enzymes in M. incognita is unprecedented in any animal for which a genome sequence is available, and may derive from multiple horizontal gene transfers from bacterial sources. Our results provide insights into the adaptations required by metazoans to successfully parasitize immunocompetent plants, and open the way for discovering new antiparasitic strategies.
authors.affiliation: INRA, UMR 1301, 400 route des Chappes, F-06903 Sophia-Antipolis, France. pierre.abad@sophia.inra.fr
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Abad
authors.forename: Jérôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gouzy
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Aury
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Castagnone-Sereno
authors.forename: Etienne G J
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Danchin
authors.forename: Emeline
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Deleury
authors.forename: Laetitia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Perfus-Barbeoch
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Anthouard
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Artiguenave
authors.forename: Vivian C
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Blok
authors.forename: Marie-Cécile
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Caillaud
authors.forename: Pedro M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Coutinho
authors.forename: Corinne
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dasilva
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: De Luca
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Deau
authors.forename: Magali
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Esquibet
authors.forename: Timothé
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Flutre
authors.forename: Jared V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Goldstone
authors.forename: Noureddine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hamamouch
authors.forename: Tarek
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hewezi
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Jaillon
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jubin
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Leonetti
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Magliano
authors.forename: Tom R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.forename: Gabriel V
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Markov
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: McVeigh
authors.forename: Graziano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pesole
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Poulain
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Robinson-Rechavi
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sallet
authors.forename: Béatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ségurens
authors.forename: Delphine
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Steinbach
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tytgat
authors.forename: Edgardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ugarte
authors.forename: Cyril
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: van Ghelder
authors.forename: Pasqua
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Veronico
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Baum
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blaxter
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bleve-Zacheo
authors.forename: Eric L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Jonathan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Ewbank
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Favery
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Grenier
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Henrissat
authors.forename: John T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Laudet
authors.forename: Aaron G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Maule
authors.forename: Hadi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Quesneville
authors.forename: Marie-Noëlle
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Rosso
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schiex
authors.forename: Geert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Smant
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weissenbach
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wincker
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D018509:DNA, Helminth / Q000235:genetics; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D017238:Genes, Helminth; D049751:Genome, Helminth; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000469:parasitology; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000469:parasitology; D010944:Plants / Q000469:parasitology*; D034622:RNA Interference; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014431:Tylenchoidea / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D018509:DNA, Helminth