Pyramiding dsRNAs increases phytonematode tolerance in cotton plants

Host-derived suppression of nematode essential genes decreases reproduction of Meloidogyne incognita in cotton. Root-knot nematodes (RKN) represent one of the most damaging plant-parasitic nematode genera worldwide. RNAi-mediated suppression of essential nematode genes provides a novel biotechnological strategy for the development of sustainable pest-control methods. Here, we used a Host Induced Gene Silencing (HIGS) approach by stacking dsRNA sequences into a T-DNA construct to target three essential RKN genes: cysteine protease (Mi-cpl), isocitrate lyase (Mi-icl), and splicing factor (Mi-sf), called dsMinc1, driven by the pUceS8.3 constitutive soybean promoter. Transgenic dsMinc1-T₄ plants infected with Meloidogyne incognita showed a significant reduction in gall formation (57-64%) and egg masses production (58-67%), as well as in the estimated reproduction factor (60-78%), compared with the susceptible non-transgenic cultivar. Galls of the RNAi lines are smaller than the wild-type (WT) plants, whose root systems exhibited multiple well-developed root swellings. Transcript levels of the three RKN-targeted genes decreased 13- to 40-fold in nematodes from transgenic cotton galls, compared with those from control WT galls. Finally, the development of non-feeding males in transgenic plants was 2-6 times higher than in WT plants, indicating a stressful environment for nematode development after RKN gene silencing. Data strongly support that HIGS of essential RKN genes is an effective strategy to improve cotton plant tolerance. This study presents the first application of dsRNA sequences to target multiple genes to promote M. incognita tolerance in cotton without phenotypic penalty in transgenic plants.