Effect of Associated Bacteria GD1 on the Low-Temperature Adaptability of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus Based on RNA-Seq and RNAi

To explore the effect of associated bacteria on the low-temperature adaptability of pinewood nematodes (PWNs), transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) of PWN AH23 treated with the associated bacterial strain Bacillus cereus GD1 was carried out with reference to the whole PWN genome. Bioinformatic software was utilized to analyze the differentially expressed genes (DEGs). This study was based on the analysis of DEGs to verify the function of daf-11 by RNAi. The results showed that there were 439 DEGs between AH23 treated with GD1 and those treated with ddH₂O at 10 °C. There were 207 pathways annotated in the KEGG database and 48 terms annotated in the GO database. It was found that after RNAi of daf-11, the survival rate of PWNs decreased significantly at 10 °C, and fecundity decreased significantly at 15 °C. It can be concluded that the associated bacteria GD1 can enhance the expression of genes related to PWN low-temperature adaptation and improve their adaptability to low temperatures.