Transcriptional reprogramming caused by cold acclimation in Meloidogyne incognita eggs

• Published in: Genes & genomics Vol. 43; no. 5; pp. 533 - 541
• Main Authors: Wang, Yuanzheng, Chen, Zhijie, Yang, Yiwei, Zhang, Feng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Springer Singapore 01.05.2021; Springer Nature B.V; 한국유전학회
• Subjects: Acclimation; Acclimatization; Adaptation; Animal Genetics and Genomics; Animals; autumn; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cold; Cold acclimation; Cold tolerance; Cold-Shock Response; Eggs; Embryogenesis; gene expression regulation; gene ontology; Genomes; genomics; Hatching; Helminth Proteins - genetics; Helminth Proteins - metabolism; Human Genetics; Life Sciences; Low temperature; Meloidogyne incognita; Microbial Genetics and Genomics; Overwintering; Ovum - metabolism; Plant Genetics and Genomics; Research Article; reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction; Reverse transcription; Signal transduction; Soil temperature; transcription (genetics); Transcriptome; transcriptomics; Tylenchoidea - embryology; Tylenchoidea - genetics; Tylenchoidea - metabolism; winter; 생물학; Hatchability; Cold acclimation; Transcriptome; Meloidogyne incognita
• ISSN: 1976-9571; 2092-9293; 2092-9293
• DOI: 10.1007/s13258-021-01069-0

Background Egg hatching in Meloidogyne incognita is a highly regulated developmental event and is strictly correlated with temperature. It has been demonstrated that exposure of M. incognita eggs to low temperature seriously affects their embryonic development. On the other hand, clear evidence has shown that M. incognita is able to overwinter at subzero soil temperatures in certain open fields. Therefore, subtle physiological and genetic adaptations may occur in M. incognita to minimize freezing injuries. Objective A growing body of evidence indicates that cold acclimation plays a large role in an individual organism’s ability to cope with freezing-induced cellular damage. Given the decreasing temperatures in late autumn or early winter, we hypothesize that natural cold acclimation occurring during these periods may assist M. incognita in overwintering. Methods Transcriptomic analysis and functional enrichment analyses were used to identify and annotate differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in acclimated eggs. The expression of DEGs involved in signal transduction and protein assembly was subsequently validated by reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Results Relatively long-term preacclimation at 4 °C significantly accelerated the hatching of M. incognita eggs that were subjected to freezing at − 1 °C. Using a transcriptomic approach, we further identified 686 and 460 up- and downregulated transcripts, respectively, in pre-cold-acclimated eggs. Additionally, we used Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway and Gene Ontology annotations for functional enrichment analyses of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Conclusion The phenomenon in which M. incognita safely overwinters at subzero soil temperatures in certain areas may be attributed to the natural cold acclimation occurring in late autumn. Here, the identification of DEGs between acclimated and nonacclimated eggs will provide us with promising directions for future studies on the mechanisms of M. incognita freezing tolerance.