Plant-parasitic nematodes are among the major causes of agricultural damage. They feed by acquiring nutrients through the establishment of specialized feeding sites, such as giant cells and syncytia, in plant tissues. Plants defend themselves against infection through two main immune mechanisms, pattern-triggered immunity (PTI) and effector-triggered immunity (ETI). However, natural defense mechanisms are often insufficient due to the emergence of new nematode pathotypes, leading to the exploration of genome-editing approaches using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. The aim of this thesis is to present the role of plant immune responses and the potential use of CRISPR/Cas9 to improve plant resistance to nematodes. The targets of genome editing are susceptibility genes (S genes), which nematodes exploit for successful parasitism, contribute to the formation of feeding sites, facilitate penetration into plant tissues, or encode negative regulators of immune signaling. This is supported by several research studies: mutagenesis of the OsHPP04 gene in rice reduced the number of female Meloidogyne graminicola nematodes; knockout of the AAP6 gene in Arabidopsis thaliana reduced susceptibility to M. incognita; and knockout of the MLO3 gene in cotton reduced the reproduction of Rotylenchulus reniformis. Despite these promising results, CRISPR/Cas9 is not yet widely used in agricultural practice due to off-target effects, difficulties in delivering CRISPR components into plant cells, and regulatory constraints.
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