Abstract
The pine wood nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) causes considerable damage to Japanese black pine (Pinus thunbergii) and Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora) forest in Japan. In the past, several nematode resistance pines have been selected from hard nematode-damaged forest. Unfortunately, a nematode resistance gene and resistance mechanism in pines has remained incompletely understood yet, though we are researching the nematode resistance gene (NR-gene) using QTL mapping and Suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH). Now, we take notice of upstream genes recognizing a protein or other compound from the nematode (Elicitor), and downstream genes of resistance genes. To identify the upstream genes, we are attempting isolation nematode-resistance gene like a cyst nematode-resistance gene of other cultivar plants using comparative genomics. On the other hand, to understand resistance responses to nematode, we attempt to approach gene expression profiling in Pinus thunbergii defence responses to nematode infection using the construction of cDNA library.