Gene Silencing in Nematode Feeding Sites

Sedentary plant-parasitic nematodes induce the formation of elaborate feeding sites in their host plants. The cell-specific gene expression analysis of nematode feeding sites yielded valuable information about the transcriptional regulation and gene regulatory networks associated with compatible and incompatible interactions of sedentary plant-parasitic nematodes and their host plants. Host endogenous small RNAs and RNA silencing pathways appear to play key roles in regulating gene expression changes and reprogramming infected root cells into specific syncytial or giant cell types. We highlight the wide gene silencing events that are associated with the initiation and formation of the nematode feeding sites. Also, we emphasize different types of transcriptional and post-transcriptional small RNA-mediated gene silencing in the feeding sites, highlighting their regulations and mode of actions. Finally, the implementation of two artificial RNA interference systems, namely host-induced gene silencing and virus-induced gene silencing as powerful tools for functional genomics of plant-nematode interactions is discussed.