Nematode-secreted peptides and host factor mimicry

Abstract

Plant pathogens have evolved diverse strategies to manipulate and co-opt host cellular function to enable infection. One strategy commonly employed by plant-parasitic cyst and root-knot nematodes is molecular mimicry of host proteins and small-molecule ligands. In an important new example of this phenomenon, Kim et al. (2018) have now identified a putatively secreted peptide from the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita that mimics the Arabidopsis INFLORESCENCE DEFICIENT IN ABSCISSION (IDA) signaling peptide, which controls floral organ abscission and lateral root emergence.