Wang Bowen
Northeast Forestry University School of Forest, China
Title: Low temperature extends lifespan of pine wood nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) through cGMP pathway
Biography
Biography: Wang Bowen
Abstract
As one of the most dangerous invasive species in the world, Pine Wood Nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) is the causal
agent of Pine Wilt Disease which causes enormous ecological and fi nancial losses by damaging the pine forest resources in Asia,
North America and Europe. It has been reported that Pine Wood Nematode has infested to the area where climate is relatively cold,
and infestation area will continue expensing to colder regions of Asian and Europe. Our hypothesis is that cold-dependent lifespan
extension is not a passive thermodynamic process but an active one which can be promoted by genetic programs at low temperature.
To decipher the low temperature induced lifespan extension in Pine Wood Nematode, my group studied the molecular mechanism
of this phenomenon. Th e results shows that the cold induced lifespan extension is regulated by several genetic pathways including
cGMP pathway. Th is study provided new ideas for the control of this devastating plant parasite nematode.