Cláudia SL Vicente

Universidade de Évora | uevora

Pine wilt disease (PWD) caused by the pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus is one of the most serious forest diseases in the world. The role of B. xylophilus-associated bacteria in PWD and their interaction with the nematode, have recently been under substantial investigation. Several studies report a potential contribution of the bacteria...

p>High-throughput sequencing (HTS) is a powerful tool that enables the simultaneous detection and potential identification of any organisms present in a sample. The growing interest in the application of HTS technologies for routine diagnostics in plant health laboratories is triggering the development of guidelines on how to prepare laboratories f...

High-throughput sequencing (HTS) technologies have the potential to become one of the most significant advances in molecular diagnostics. Their use by researchers to detect and characterize plant pathogens and pests has been growing steadily for more than a decade and they are now envisioned as a routine diagnostic test to be deployed by plant pest...

High-throughput sequencing (HTS) technologies have the potential to become one of the most signi cant advances in molecular diagnostics. Their use by researchers to detect and characterize plant pathogens and pests has been growing steadily for more than a decade and they are now envisioned as a routine diagnostic test to be deployed by plant pest...

Plant-parasitic nematodes (PPNs) are among the most notorious and underrated threats to food security and plant health worldwide, compromising crop yields and causing billions of dollars of losses annually. Chemical control strategies rely heavily on synthetic chemical nematicides to reduce PPN population densities, but their use is being progressi...

Considered one of the most devastating plant–parasitic nematodes worldwide, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (commonly known as pinewood nematode, PWN) is the causal agent of the pine wilt disease in the Eurasian coniferous forests. This migratory parasitic nematode is carried by an insect vector (Monochamus spp.) into the host tree (Pinus species), wher...

A doença da murchidão do pinheiro, causada pelo nemátode da madeira do pinheiro, é uma das maiores ameaças ao pinhal em Portugal. Os meios de luta contra o nemátode são ainda limitados, mas a utilização de fungos antagonistas para o seu controlo pode ser uma opção promissora e viável.

The pinewood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, is the causal agent of pine wilt disease (PWD), a serious threat to pine forests worldwide, especially in Asia and Europe. Due to its economic relevance and global dissemination, an enormous effort is devoted to study the virulence of B. xylophilus and the epidemiology of PWD. Understandably,...

The pinewood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, is the causal agent of pine wilt disease (PWD) and a quarantine organism in many countries. Managing PWD involves strict regulations and heavy contingency plans, and present climate change scenarios predict a spread of the disease. The urgent need for sustainable management strategies has led...

High-throughput sequencing (HTS) technologies have the potential to become one of the most significant advances in molecular diagnostics. Their use by researchers to detect and characterize plant pathogens and pests has been growing steadily for more than a decade and they are now envisioned as a routine diagnostic test to be deployed by plant pest...

The pinewood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, is a quarantine organism in several countries and the causal agent of pine wilt disease. Controlling the PWN is difficult, but nematophagous fungi belonging to the Esteya genus, E. vermicola and E. floridanum, are promising candidates for biocontrol. However, they were never tested in the mar...

The impacts of a rapidly changing environment together with the growth in global trade activities has promoted new plant pest pandemic events in forest ecosystems. The pinewood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, causes strong worldwide economic and ecological impacts. Direct control is performed through trunk injection of powerful nematici...

Soil microbial communities play a crucial role in soil fertility, sustainability, and plant health. However, intensive agriculture with increasing chemical inputs and changing environments have influenced native soil microbial communities. Approaches have been developed to study the structure, diversity, and activity of soil microbes to better unde...

Pine wilt disease (PWD) is a complex disease that severely affects the biodiversity and economy of Eurasian coniferous forests. Three factors are described as the main elements of the disease: the pinewood nematode (PWN) Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, the insect-vector Monochamus spp., and the host tree, mainly Pinus spp. Nonetheless, other microbial...

The cyst nematodes of the genera Heterodera (HET) and Globodera (GLO) are among the most damaging obligate plant parasitic nematodes (PPNs) that parasitize cereals, rice, potatoes and soybean. In the absence of resistant crops, soil fumigation of pesticides provides a good strategy for population control. However, synthetic nematicides can cause ne...

Pratylenchus penetrans, one of the most detrimental root-lesion nematode species, greatly reduces the production in numerous important agronomic crops (e.g., corn, potato), ornamental plants (e.g., lily, roses) and fruit trees (e.g., almond, cherry orchards). In the EU, P. penetrans has been reported as the most damaging species associated with pot...

The root lesion nematode Pratylenchus penetrans is a migra- tory species that attacks a broad range of crops. Like other plant pathogens, P. penetrans deploys a battery of secreted protein effectors to manipulate plant hosts and induce dis- ease. Although several candidate effectors of P. penetrans have been identified, detailed mechanisms of their...

The identification and phylogenetic relationships of potato cyst nematodes (PCN) were studied to assess the potential value of geographical distribution information for integrated pest management of potato production in Portugal. This research focused on PCN species, Globodera pallida and Globodera rostochiensis. From 2013 until 2019, 748 soil samp...

In this study, we characterized the diversity of Pseudomonas associated with Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, its insect vector (Monochamus galloprovincialis) and its host (Pinus pinaster), by a culture‐independent approach using rpoD clone libraries. Clone libraries of Pseudomonas rpoD were obtained from B. xylophilus, M. galloprovincialis and infected...

terthienyl is an allelochemical derived from the roots of marigold (Tagetes spp.), which is used to suppress plant parasitic nematodes. We investigated the nematicidal activity of α-terthienyl against the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans and the root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita. As reported previously, α-terthienyl action was much hig...

Similar to other plant-parasitic nematodes, root lesion nematodes possess an array of enzymes that are involved in the degradation of the plant cell wall. Here we report the identification of a gene encoding a cell wall-degrading enzyme, pectin methylesterase PME (EC 3.1.1.11), in the root lesion nematode Pratylenchus penetrans. Both genomic and co...

Codon usage of PMEs of representative species of different taxa. The preferred codons are highlighted in red. (XLSX)

Mass spectrometry (UPL-MS/MS) spectrum of the Pp-PME peptides identified in plants expressing the PXV-Pp-pme construct. (A) and (B) correspond to the different Pp-PME peptides identified from two protein libraries extracted from the leaves of Nicotiana benthamiana plants inoculated with PVX-Pp-pme. (PDF)

List of primers used in this study. (XLSX)

Percentage of GC content (GC1, GC2, GC3) of selected PMEs characterized in this study. Pp, Pratylenchus penetrans; Bacteria, B; Archaea, A; Fungi, F; Insect, I; Plant, P. (XLSX)

Nucleotide (A) and predicted protein (B) alignments of the PME cloned from two different geographic isolates of Pratylenchus penetrans. Pp-PME US isolate corresponds to the isolate NL 10p RH collected in Beltsville (Maryland, US), Pp-PME PT isolate corresponds to the isolate A44L4 collected from potato fields in Portugal (Coimbra, Portugal). (PDF)

List of PME sequences, and respective species, used for phylogenetic analysis of Pp-PME. These sequences of each particular taxa correspond to the top BLAST hits against P. penetrans PME sequence. (XLSX)

Similarity matrix among the different PME sequences obtained for different groups of organisms including the PME sequence of Pratylenchus penetrans. (XLSX)

List of peptides and corresponding protein identification generated through mass spectrometry analyses. (XLSX)

Alignment of genomic DNA and cDNA Pp-pme sequences of Pratylenchus penetrans isolate NL10p RH. Exons and introns are indicated by green and red arrows, respectively. (PDF)

The successful adaptation of cockroaches is, in part, dependent of the activity of their obligatory endosymbionts, Blattabacterium spp., which are involved in uric acid degradation, nitrogen assimilation and nutrient provisioning. Their strategic localization, within bacteriocytes in the proximities of uric acid storage cells (urocytes), highlights...

Protein-coding genes have been assigned COG numbers for all Blattabacterium strains. (XLSX)

Accession number of all genomes used for phylogenomics analysis. (XLSX)

Predicted genes in the Blattabacterium sp. from Periplaneta japonica (BPja) genome. (XLSX)

Standard curves for qPCR quantification of Blattabacterium (ureA) from Periplaneta japonica (a) and P. fuliginosa (b); and host (wg) P. japonica (c) and P. fuliginosa (d). (TIF)

Predicted genes in the Blattabacterium sp. from Periplaneta fuliginosa (BPfu) genome. (XLSX)

Thelastomatid nematodes (Nematoda: Oxyurida: Thelastomatoidea) are obligatory parasites that occur naturally in the hindgut of arthropods. Their origin and impact in the host is still unknown. Previous studies showed that the presence of thelastomatid nematodes in the gut of cockroaches (Periplaneta fuliginosa and P. americana) could influence the...

Serratia grimesii BXF1 is a bacterium with the ability to modulate the development of several eukaryotic hosts. Strain BXF1 was isolated from the pinewood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, the causative agent of pine wilt disease affecting pine forests worldwide. This bacterium potentiates Bursaphelenchus xylophilus reproduction, acts as a bene...

Pine Wilt Disease (PWD) has a significant impact on Eurasia pine forests. The microbiome of the nematode (the primary cause of the disease), its insect vector, and the host tree may be relevant for the disease mechanism. The aim of this study was to characterize these microbiomes, from three PWD-affected areas in Portugal, using Denaturing Gradient...

Pine wilt disease (PWD) results from the interaction of three elements: the pathogenic nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus; the insect-vector, Monochamus sp.; and the host tree, mostly Pinus species. Bacteria isolated from B. xylophilus may be a fourth element in this complex disease. However, the precise role of bacteria in this interaction is un...

The aim of this study is to understand the biological role of Serratia quinivorans BXF1, a bacterium commonly found associated with Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, the plant parasitic nematode responsible for pine wilt disease. Therefore, we studied strain BXF1 effect in pine wilt disease. We found that strain BXF1 promoted in vitro nematode reproducti...

Cockroaches are parasitized by thelastomatid nematodes, which live in an obligate manner in their hindgut and interact with the resident microbial community. In the present study, a composition analysis was performed on the gut microbiome of Periplaneta fuliginosa and P. americana to investigate natural and artificial infection by thelastomatid nem...

The American cockroach Periplaneta americana (Linnaeus, 1758) (Blattodea: Blattidae) has been spreading worldwide by commerce and has successfully adjusted to living with humans. There are many reports of thelastomatid parasitic nematode isolated from P. americana in many countries including USA, Canada, India, Argentina, Bulgaria, but not in Japan...

Background: Pine wilt disease (PWD) is a worldwide threat to pine forests, and is caused by the pine wood nematode (PWN) Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. Bacteria are known to be associated with PWN and may have an important role in PWD. Serratia sp. LCN16 is a PWN-associated bacterium, highly resistant to oxidative stress in vitro, and which beneficia...

Background: Biserrula pelecinus is an annual legume native to the Mediterranean basin, found in pastureland, alone or in association with other legumes (Leguminosae) and grasses (Poaceae). It has been used in revegetation programmes of mining wastes showing phytoremediation potentials and thus becoming potentially highly attractive for plant ecolog...

Monochamus beetles are the dispersing vectors of the nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, the causative agent of pine wilt disease (PWD). PWD inflicts significant damages in Eurasian pine forests. Symbiotic microorganisms have a large influence in insect survival. The aim of this study was to characterize the bacterial community associated to PWD v...

Molecular characterisation of Bursaphelenchus cocophilus, the causal agent of ‘red ring disease’, is imperative for efficient identification procedures in Brazil and Colombia, because quarantine species such as B. xylophilus and B. mucronatus are already listed in both countries. ITS-1/2 region and D2-D3 segment of LSU rDNA were used to characteris...

Wood-boring beetles of the genus Monochamus are the dispersing vectors of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, the causing agent of pine wilt disease (PWD). This disease inflicts concerning damages in Eurasian pine forests. Studies in vectoring efficiency for other diseases demonstrate a large influence of symbiotic microorganisms in insects’ survival and d...

The Pine Wilt Disease (PWD) has huge impact on Eurasia pine forests. PWD results from the interaction between the causing agent, the pine wood nematode (PWN) Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, its insect-vector (Monochamus spp.) and the host tree (Pinus spp.). PWN associated bacteria were reported as toxins’ producers causing PWD symptoms. Although less s...

Considered an EPPO A2 quarantine pest, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus is the causal agent of the pine wilt disease and the most devastating plant parasitic nematode attacking coniferous trees in the world. In the early stages of invasion, this nematode has to manage host defence mechanisms, such as strong oxidative stress. Only successful, virulent nem...

Mutualistic and beneficial relationships between nematodes and bacteria are highly present in nature, mostly occurring because of nutritional dependence and pathogen protection, and intrinsically related with the environment, the ecological conditions and the nematode life stages. Thirty-four years have passed since the first hypothesis suggesting...

The smokybrown cockroach Periplaneta fuliginosa has spread all over the world, and is now one of the most undesired invasive alien pests in Japan. Because cockroaches are generally infected by thelastomatid nematodes, they are being distributed around the world with their parasitic nematodes. Nothing is known about parasitic nematode species in P....

The smokybrown cockroach Periplaneta fuliginosa has spread all over the world, and is now one of the most undesired inva-sive alien pests in Japan. Because cockroaches are generally infected by thelastomatid nematodes, they are being distributed around the world with their parasitic nematodes. Nothing is known about parasitic nematode species in P....

Bursaphelenchus xylophilus is the causal agent of pine wilt disease and the most devastating plant parasitic nematode attacking coniferous trees (mostly Pinus species) in the world. In the early stages of invasion, this nematode has to manage host defence mechanisms, such as strong oxidative stress. Only successful virulent nematodes are able to re...

Most studies of cerambycids microbiota are related with gut-bacterial communities due to their importance in the insect's biology and ecology. Essentially, the research in this field showed that insect microbial communities are limited by specific niche characteristics. The present study investigates the natural bacterial communities of Monochamus...

Pine wilt disease (PWD) has a tremendous impact on worldwide forestlands, both from the environmental and economical viewpoints. Monochamus sp., a xylophagous insect from the Cerambycidae family, plays an important role in dissemination of the pinewood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, the primary pathogenic agent of PWD. The present study inve...

Plant pathogens have evolved a machinery of antioxidant enzymes and detoxyfying systems to reduce the plant oxidative burst impact upon invasion, and allow their successful colonization. Our study aimed to understand the contribution of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus-associated bacteria in interaction with the nematode, and as well independently, under...