Compositions and methods for the control of root lesion nematode

A method for controlling a Pratylenchus nematode population, said method comprising providing in a diet of said nematode population an agent comprising a dsRNA molecule that functions upon being taken up by said nematode to inhibit growth of said nematode, wherein said dsRNA molecule is transcribed from a polynucleotide comprising (a) a first nucleotide sequence comprising at least 30 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:2;

• and (b) a second nucleotide sequence comprising the reverse complement of the first nucleotide sequence.

A method for controlling a Pratylenchus nematode population, said method comprising providing in a diet of said nematode population a transformed plant cell expressing a polynucleotide comprising (a) a first nucleotide sequence comprising at least 30 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:2;

• and (b) a second nucleotide sequence comprising the reverse complement of the first nucleotide sequence, wherein the polynucleotide is expressed to produce a dsRNA that functions upon being taken up by said nematode population to inhibit growth or reproduction of said nematode population.

A method for reducing the number of root lesion nematodes productively feeding in root tissue of a host plant, said method comprising providing a transgenic host plant for said root lesion nematodes to feed on, said transgenic host plant expressing a polynucleotide comprising (a) a first nucleotide sequence comprising at least 30 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:2;

• and (b) a second nucleotide sequence comprising the reverse complement of the first nucleotide sequence, wherein said polynucleotide is expressed to produce a dsRNA that functions upon being taken up by said root lesion nematodes to inhibit expression of a kin-2 sequence within said root lesion nematodes and results in a decrease in the number of productively feeding root lesion nematodes, relative to the number of feeding root lesion nematodes established on a non-transgenic host plant.

A method of controlling infestation of a Pratylenchus nematode pest in a plant, said method comprising providing in a diet of said nematode pest a dsRNA comprising:

• a) a sense nucleotide sequence comprising at least 30 contiguous nucleotides of SEQ ID NO:2;
• and
• b) an antisense nucleotide sequence comprising the complement of the sense nucleotide sequence.