Compositions and methods for conferring nematodic activity to
bacteria, plants,
plant cells, tissues, and seeds are provided. Furthermore,
nematode pest populations, particularly Platylenchus species (
Pratylenchus spp.), such as pineapple root-knot
nematode (
Pratylenchus brachyurus), northern root-knot
nematode (
Pratylenchus penetrans), scribneri, neglectus nematode (Pratylenchus neglectus), Platylenchus zeae, long-tailed lance nematode (Belonolaimus longicaudatus), Hoplolainus galeatus, Helicotylenchus dihystera, spiral nematode (Helicotylenchus pseudorobustus), or Xiphinema nematode (Xiphinema Methods are provided for killing or controlling populations of Americanum nematodes, root-knot nematodes, false sedge nematodes, soybean
cyst nematodes, or lance nematodes. The methods include contacting nematode pests with a pesticidal effective amount of a polypeptide containing a nematode
toxin. Furthermore, methods for increasing
plant yield by expressing the genes of the present invention in plants are also provided.