Resistance: plant-parasitic nematodes

Nematodes are a unique type of plant parasite. Nematodes are classified as beneficial or parasitic, depending on what they feed on. Beneficial nematodes feed on bacteria, fungi, and insect pests, while plant-parasitic nematodes attack horticultural crops. Resistance to plant-parasitic nematodes is an attractive and economical approach for controlling nematodes. The host resistance may be found in advanced cultivars or can be transferred from breeding lines and wild relatives to advanced cultivars through classical and biotechnology breeding methods. Natural resistance genes (R-genes) are important in conferring resistance against plant-parasitic nematodes, and as such plant breeders have developed improved cultivars of horticultural crops with resistance to parasitic nematodes. Breeding for resistance to plant-parasitic nematodes adheres to similar guidelines as with breeding for resistance to bacterial, fungi, viral, etc. diseases. The resistance response to plant-parasitic nematodes varies with the specific plant resistance gene and nematode interaction. In this chapter, the nature and mechanisms of parasitic nematode interactions with respect to breeding for resistance in horticultural crops is reviewed.