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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Mycology and Nematology Genetic Diversity and Biology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #415339
Research Project: Plant-associated Nematode Management and Systematics and USDA Nematode Collection Curation

Location: Mycology and Nematology Genetic Diversity and Biology Laboratory

Title: Draft genome sequence resource for a Wolbachia endosymbiont in Heterodera humuli

Author
item NÚÑEZ-RODRÍGUEZ, LESTER - Oregon State University
item Wram, Catherine
item Hesse, Cedar
item Zasada, Inga

Submitted to: PhytoFrontiers
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/7/2024
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Plant-parasitic nematodes are microscopic round worms that pose a significant problem to crop production globally, resulting in more than $110 billion in crop loss annually. The main nematode threatening hop production is the Hop Cyst Nematode. Some nematodes and other animals have other microorganisms living in association with them and disrupting these relationships can be a method for potential control. One such organism was found with the Hop Cyst Nematode and its DNA was sequenced. This is the first step in developing a better understanding of the relationship between these organisms so that it can be potentially manipulated to assist growers in managing this important nematode in hops.

Technical Abstract: The bacterial endosymbiont Wolbachia has gained interest lately as a potential biocontrol strategy for managing disease-causing parasites. Wolbachia is known to be associated with different arthropods and only two genera of plant-parasitic nematodes, Pratylenchus and Radopholus. This effort employed a genome skimming approach to discover the presence of endosymbionts in a population of Heterodera humuli sequenced with PacBio long-read sequencing. Wolbachia was found associated with the nematode. The genome of this Wolbachia is 1,051,007 bp and has a GC% (32.6%) within the expected range for the genus. A phylogenetic analysis placed the Wolbachia strain from H. humuli in a clade with another nematode-associated Wolbachia strain reported in Texas, with a bootstrap value of 1. This first report of Wolbachia associated with H. humuli expands the known association of this endosymbiont to three genera of plant-parasitic nematodes. This finding will enhance sequence resources for further comparisons of Wolbachia diversity.