Making headway in understanding pine wilt disease: What do we perceive in the postgenomic era?

The advent of next generation sequencing has revolutionized research approaches to biology by making entire genome sequences available and marking a new age in biology that has the potential to open innovative research avenues in various fields. Genome sequencing is now being applied in the fields of forest ecology and forest pathology, which previously had limited access to molecular techniques. One of the most advanced areas of progress is the study of “pine wilt disease”, which is caused by the parasitic nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. The entire genome sequence of B. xylophilus was determined in 2011, and since then, proteomic studies have been conducted to understand the molecular basis of the parasitism and pathogenicity of B. xylophilus. These postgenomic studies have provided numerous molecular insights and greatly changed our understanding of the pathogenesis of pine wilt disease. Here, we review the recent advances in genomic and proteomic approaches that address some of the longstanding questions behind the pathogenesis of pine wilt disease and have identified future questions and directions in this regard.