The pine wood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, causes huge economic losses in pine forests. The plant‐parasitic nematodes have a complex life cycle that includes the secretion of effector proteins through a stylet into the host cell to promote parasitism. In this study, SignalP 4.1 and TMHMM 2.0 were used in preliminary screens for candidate effectors and were expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana through the PVX virus expression vector. The yeast signal sequence trap system was used to further study the function of the signal peptide of an effector, BxSapB2. In situ hybridization was conducted to investigate the localization of BxSapB2, followed by RNA interference technology (RNAi) to assess the functions of BxSapB2. The results demonstrate that BxSapB2 is a secreted protein that induces cell death in N. benthamiana and is highly expressed in esophageal gland cells and amphids of B. xylophilus. BxSapB2 was determined to be related to the pathogenicity of B. xylophilus. The results of this work indicate that BxSapB2 plays an important role in the interactions between B. xylophilus and the hosts.

中文翻译：

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关键效应物BxSapB2在松木线虫Bursaphelenchus xylophilus的致病性中起作用

松木线虫（PWN）Bursaphelenchus xylophilus在松树林中造成巨大的经济损失。植物寄生线虫具有复杂的生命周期，包括通过探针将效应蛋白分泌到宿主细胞中以促进寄生。在这项研究中，SignalP 4.1和TMHMM 2.0用于初步筛选候选效应子，并通过PVX病毒表达载体在本氏烟草中表达。酵母信号序列捕获系统用于进一步研究效应子BxSapB2的信号肽的功能。进行原位杂交以研究BxSapB2的定位，然后进行RNA干扰技术（RNAi）评估BxSapB2的功能。结果表明，BxSapB2是一种分泌蛋白，可以在本氏烟草中诱导细胞死亡，并在食管腺细胞和B. xylophilus的两栖动物中高度表达。BxSapB2被确定与致病性B. xylophilus。这项工作的结果表明BxSapB2在B. xylophilus与宿主之间的相互作用中起着重要作用。