De Novo Transcriptome Assembly of the Plant-Parasitic Nematode Rotylenchulus reniformis

Showmaker, K. C., Ganji, S., Arick, M., II, Sanders, W. S., Magbanua, Z. V., Wubben, M. J., & Peterson, D. G. (2013). De Novo Transcriptome Assembly of the Plant-Parasitic Nematode Rotylenchulus reniformis. MCBIOS 2013. University of Missouri, Columbia, MO.

Rotylenchulus reniformis, commonly known as the reniform nematode, is a pathogen of cotton, soybean, and sweet potatoes in the Southeastern United States. An estimate of cotton production loss due to R. reniformis parasitism in the United States in 2011 was 279,000 bales. Here, we present a de novo transcriptome assembly, annotation, and analysis for a population of diploid R. reniformis nematodes. The RNA used for the assembly was isolated from the egg, second-stage juvenile (J2), J3, vermiform adult and sedentary female (SF) developmental stages of the nematode. Homologies were found between R. reniformis and plant parasitic (e.g. Meloidogyne and Heterodera spp.), animal parasitic (Brugia malayi) and free living (Caenorhabditis elegans) nematodes. Of importance we report homologs between R. reniformis and previously described genes from the soybean cyst nematode, Heterodera glycines, involved in the establishment and maintenance of its specialized feeding structure, the syncytium, in the host root. Phylogenetically the R. reniformis transcriptome currently represents the most complete gene set for any nematode species within the family Hoplolaimidae.