The origin, deployment, and evolution of a plant-parasitic nematode effectorome

Plant-parasitic nematodes constrain global food security. During parasitism, they secrete effectors into the host plant from two types of pharyngeal gland cells. These effectors elicit profound changes in host biology to suppress immunity and establish a unique feeding organ from which the nematode draws nutrition. Despite the importance of effectors in nematode parasitism, there has been no comprehensive identification and characterisation of the effector repertoire of any plant-parasitic nematode.
To address this, we advance techniques for gland cell isolation and transcriptional analysis to define a stringent annotation of putative effectors for the cyst nematode Heterodera schachtii at three key life-stages. We define 717 effector gene loci: 269 “known” high-confidence homologs of plant-parasitic nematode effectors, and 448 “novel” effectors with high gland cell expression. In doing so we define the most comprehensive “effectorome” of a plant-parasitic nematode to date.
Using this e..., Instructions for the generation of transcriptional networks are available here: https://github.com/BethMolloy/Effectorome_H_schachtii, , ## **README: The origin, deployment, and evolution of a plant-parasitic nematode effectorome.**

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Data associated with the effectorome of the plant-parasitic nematode *Heterodera schachtii*. Principally annotated transcriptional network files for *H. schachtii* and *Arabidopsis thaliana* genes, and computationally predicted structures of all *Heterodera schachtii* and *Globodera rostochiensis* proteins (using AlphaFold).

**Change log**

This repository has been updated from the version associated with preprint, following peer review. The methods for effector definition in the manuscript were altered, which had an impact on the total number of effectors (659 to 717). As such, the associated network files have been re-computed and updated here, with no substantive changes. Alpha fold and Transcription factor files remain unchanged.

### **Description of the data and file structure**

1. *H. schachtii* transcription factors predicted as ...