Fig. 7

RNAi knockdown of chemosensory genes affected M. graminicola parasitic ability in rice root. (A) Comparative penetration of dsRNA-treated and control J2s inside the root at 24, 48 and 72 h after inoculation. Roots were stained with acid fuchsin to determine the nematode numbers. Each bar indicates average number of J2s penetrated in three biological and five technical replicates ± SE. Bars with different letters are significantly different as per the Tukey’s test, P < 0.01. (B) Comparative numbers of galls, egg masses, eggs per egg mass and multiplication factor (MF) ratio of dsRNA-treated and control J2s inside the root at 16 days post inoculation. Each bar indicates average number of different infection parameters in three biological and five technical replicates ± SE. Bars with different letters are significantly different as per the Tukey’s test, P < 0.01. (C) Representative images demonstrate lower galling intensity in roots infected with Mg-odr-7 silenced J2s compared to higher galling intensity in roots infected with gfp dsRNA-treated J2s. (D) Developmental delay was observed in chemosensory gene silenced worms. When control J2s developed to adult females, Mg-tax-4 silenced J2s developed to J3/J4 mixed stages. Scale bar = 100 μm