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Two Candidate Meloidogyne javanica Effector Genes, MjShKT and MjPUT3: A Functional Investigation of Their Roles in Regulating Nematode Parasitism

As one of the most destructive plant parasites, the Meloidogyne root-knot nematodes (RKNs) infect thousands of plant species. Anil Kumar et al. used transcriptomic data from Meloidogyne javanica on tomato to identify two candidate M. javanica effectors potentially involved in nematode infection. Functional characterization of these effectors shows that MjShKT is involved in the inhibition of programmed cell death, and MjPUT3 may be involved in modifying root morphology—both of which improve the in-planta fitness of the pathogen. This work provides another step toward understanding the important interaction between plants and nematodes.