RNAseq of transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana expressing a cyst nematode protein

Parasitic cyst nematodes can feed on the roots of crop plants causing severe economic damage. To better understand how these worms cause disease, a stylet-secreted effector protein from the cyst nematode Heterodera schachtii was expressed in its host plant, Arabidopsis thaliana. Gene expression was altered when the effector protein was expressed in plants providing insight into the mechanism by which nematodes alter root cells to cause disease.