Combating Root-Knot Nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.): From Molecular Mechanisms to Resistant Crops

Root-knot nematodes (RKNs; Meloidogyne spp.) are significant plant-parasitic nematodes that cause major yield losses worldwide. With growing awareness of the harmful effects of chemical pesticides on human health and the environment, there is an urgent need to develop alternative strategies for controlling RKN in agricultural fields. In recent years, implementing multiple approaches based on transcriptomics, genomics, and genome engineering, including modern platforms like CRISPR/Cas9, along with traditional genetic mapping, has led to great advances in understanding the plant-RKN interactions and the underlying molecular mechanisms of plant RKN resistance. In this literature review, we synthesize the contributions of relevant studies in this field and discuss key findings. This includes, for instance, transcriptomics studies that helped expand our understanding of plant RKN-resistance mechanisms, the overexpression of plant hormone-related genes, and the silencing of susceptibility genes that lead to plant RKN resistance. This review was conducted by searching scientific sources, including PubMed and Google Scholar, for relevant publications and filtering them using keywords such as RKN-plant defense mechanisms, host-plant resistance against RKN, and genetic mapping for RKN. This knowledge can be leveraged to accelerate the development of RKN-resistant plants and substantially improve RKN management in economically important crops.