Arabidopsis thaliana and Heterodera schachtii total circular DNAs libraries using Illumina-seq

Horizonal gene transfer (HGT) events in plant parasitic nematodes(PPNs) play an important role in the evolution of parasitism. Most HGT genes in PPN genomes originate from bacteria, and to a lesser extent fungi. Given that these nematodes spend their entire life eating plant tissue, there seems a conspicuous absence of plant-derived cases. In this dataset, we aimed to understand if the nematode-induced host genome mobilisation and host nucleic acids acquisition in the nematode happened. We infected wild type A. thaliana of Columbia-0 background (Col-0; CS6000) with H. schachtii in vitro and generated total circular DNAs libraries that were isolated from both host infected tissues (syncytium) and adjacent developmentally matched uninfected host tissues (roots), selectively amplified using Rolling Circle Amplification (RCA), and analysed by Illumina short read sequencing. We hypothesised that HGT events may occur through circular DNA because its mobility, double stranded circular structural stability, and ability to insert could all plausibly facilitate transfer.