Virulence Biomarkers of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus : A Proteomic Approach

The pinewood nematode (PWN), , one of the most serious forest pests worldwide, is considered the causal agent of the pine wilt disease (PWD). The main host species belong to the genus , and a variation in the susceptibility of several pine species to PWN infection is well-known. It is also recognized that there is variation in the virulence among isolates. In the present study, we applied a quantitative mass spectrometry-based proteomics approach to perform a deep characterization of proteomic changes across two isolates with different virulence from different hosts and geographical origins. A total of 1,456 proteins were quantified and compared in the two isolates secretomes, and a total of 2,741 proteins were quantified and compared in the nematode proteomes in pine tree extract and fungus stimuli conditions. From the proteomic analyses, a group of proteins was selected and identified as potential virulence biomarkers and shed light on putative most pathogenic proteins of this plant-parasitic nematode. Proteomic data are available ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD029377.