Transcriptome of early-infected root-knot nematodes by the bacterial pathogen Pasteuria penetrans. Meloidogyne incognita

Meloidogyne incognita (Southern root-knot nematode) has been postulated to be the most damaging crop pathogen in the world. Pasteuria penetrans, which is an obligate parasite of root-knot nematodes, has potential to be developed as an effective biological control agent. P. penetrans initiate the infection though adhering their endospores to the cuticle of second-stage juveniles (J2s) of root-knot nematodes, which process is the primary and the most fundamental step for infection. In order to understand the molecular basis of M. incognita in response to P. penetrans infection, RNA-seq was employed to characterize the differential expression profiles between infected and uninfected J2s of M. incognita.