Nematode Fecundity Research Articles

Effect of organic fertiliser and Chromolaena odorata residue on the pathogenicity of Meloidogyne incognita on maize

Pot experiments laid out in a complete randomised design were conducted in the screen house of the Department of Crop Protection, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria to determine the effects of organic fertiliser and Chromolaena odorata residue at 1% w/w on the pathogenicity of Meloidogyne incognita infecting maize. M. incognita significantly reduced the plant height, number of leaves per plant, leaf area, cob weight and grain yield of maize by 6.89, 15.18, 20, 63.92 and 56.16% respectively. C. odorata residue and organic fertiliser significantly suppressed M. incognita galling, inhibited the nematode fecundity and reduced the number of eggs and juveniles on maize. A remarkable increase in plant height, number of leaves per plant, leaf area, cob weight and grain yield were observed on maize plants treated with the mixture of C. odorata and organic fertiliser despite the nematode infection. The observation from this study suggests that C. odorata in combination with organic fertiliser is a viable option for the control of M. incognita on maize.

Effects of ced-9 dsRNA on <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> and <i>Meloidogyne incognita</i>

Abstract: Problem Statement: In metazoans Programmed Cell Death (PCD) is essential for proper development. Suppression of PCD is needed to guarantee cell survival and in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans the regulation of PCD is accomplished by the function of the ced-9 gene. Approach: In this work the use of double stranded RNA (dsRNA) to knock-down ced-9 gene function was tested as means to induce PCD. Results: Our results indicate that dsRNA targeting the cell death protection gene ced-9 is effective at decreasing the fecundity of C. elegans by up to 21%. The decreased fecundity correlated with an increased presence of cell corpses in developing embryos. Endogenous ced-9 transcript levels were reduced in progeny of ced-3 mutant nematodes fed bacteria expressing ced-9 dsRNA. These data suggest that nematode fecundity can be reduced by ingestion and exposure to dsRNAs targeting regulation of the cell death pathway. In an attempt to determine if plant parasitic nematodes are susceptible to the targeting of the PCD regulatory pathway we exposed Meloidogyne incognita, a plant parasitic nematode, to ced-9 dsRNA; here we show that this exposure results in decreased gall formation in the tobacco plants. Conclusion/Recommendations: Our results provide the first steps toward using RNAi technologies to attempt nematode control by targeting cell death pathways. Ongoing research with transgenic plants designed to express dsRNA for ced-9-like sequences will further test the feasibility of generating plants with RNAi-based resistance to parasitic nematodes.

Immunity-mediated regulation of fecundity in the nematodeHeligmosomoides polygyrus– the potential role of mast cells

Previous studies have shown that host immunity regulates the fecundity of nematodes. The present study was aimed at clarifying the reversible nature of fecundity in response to changes of immunological status and to determine which effector cells are responsible for compromising fecundity in Heligmosomoides polygyrus. Enhanced fecundity was observed in immunocompromised SCID and nu/nu mice compared to those in the corresponding wild-type mice, with significantly fewer numbers of intrauterine eggs produced in the wild-type than in the immunodeficient mice. When 14-day-old adult worms from BALB/c mice were transplanted into naïve BALB/c mice, their fecundity increased significantly as early as 24 h post-transplantation, but not when they were transferred into immune mice, suggesting the plastic and reversible nature of fecundity in response to changes in host immunological status. In mast cell-deficient W/W(v) mice, nematode fecundity was significantly higher than in mast cell-reconstituted W/W(v) or +/+ mice. The serum levels of the mast-cell protease mMCP1 were markedly increased in the wild-type as well as the mast cell-reconstituted W/W(v), but not in the W/W(v), SCID, or nu/nu mice during infection. These findings raise the interesting possibility that certain activities of mast cells, either directly or indirectly, regulate parasite fecundity during infection.

Rapid in planta evaluation of root expressed transgenes in chimeric soybean plants

Production of stable transgenic plants is one factor that limits rapid evaluation of tissue specific transgene expression. To hasten the assessment of transgenes in planta, we evaluated the use of chimeric soybean seedlings expressing transgenic products in roots. Tap roots from four-day old seedlings (cultivars 'Jack' and KS4704) were excised and hairy roots were induced from hypocotyls via Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation. Inoculated hypocotyls were screened on a MS-based medium containing either 200 mg/L kanamycin or 20 mg/L hygromycin. Beta-glucuronidase (GUS) activity assay indicated that highest GUS expression was observed in hypocotyls exposed to a 4-d pre-inoculation time, a neutral pH (7.0) for the co-cultivation medium. A 170-bp of the Fib-1 gene and 292-bp of the Y25C1A.5 gene fragments, both related to nematode reproduction and fitness, were cloned independently into pANDA35HK vector using a Gateway cloning strategy. The resulting RNAi constructs of the genes fragments were transformed into soybean using the chimeric hairy root system and evaluated for its effect on soybean cyst nematode (Heterodera glycines) fecundity. Confirmation of transformation was attained by polymerase chain reaction and Southern-blot analysis, and some potential for suppression of H. glycines reproduction was detected for the two constructs. This method takes on average four weeks to produce chimeric plants ready for transgene analysis.

In vitro anthelmintic activity of Chicory extracts from plants of different vegetative stages on Teladorsagia circumcincta L3

The consumption of plants rich in plant secondary metabolites has been associated with improved resilience of parasitised hosts, i.e. their ability to perform under parasitic infection, compared to animals fed conventional feeds (Athanasiadou et al., 2007). Furthermore, such bio-active plants can improve host resistance, which refers to the host ability to regulate gastrointestinal nematode establishment, development, fecundity and survival (Athanasiadou et. al. 2008). Chichorium intybus L. (chicory) is such a bio-active forage and its potential anthelmintic activity is currently investigated as an alternative means to control parasitism in sheep production systems. In the present study we employed an in vitro assay to study a possible mechanism of anti-parasitic action arising from chicory, and to test whether this anthelmintic activity is affected by the vegetative stage of the plant.

Muller's Ratchet and compensatory mutation in Caenorhabditis briggsae mitochondrial genome evolution

BackgroundThe theory of Muller' Ratchet predicts that small asexual populations are doomed to accumulate ever-increasing deleterious mutation loads as a consequence of the magnified power of genetic drift and mutation that accompanies small population size. Evidence for Muller's Ratchet and knowledge on its underlying molecular mechanisms, however, are lacking for natural populations.ResultsWe characterized mitochondrial genome evolutionary processes in Caenorhabditis briggsae natural isolates to show that numerous lineages experience a high incidence of nonsynonymous substitutions in protein-coding genes and accumulate unusual deleterious noncoding DNA stretches with associated heteroplasmic function-disrupting genome deletions. Isolate-specific deletion proportions correlated negatively with nematode fecundity, suggesting that these deletions might negatively affect C. briggsae fitness. However, putative compensatory mutations were also observed that are predicted to reduce heteroplasmy levels of deleterious deletions. Paradoxically, compensatory mutations were observed in one major intraspecific C. briggsae clade where population sizes are estimated to be very small (and selection is predicted to be relatively weak), but not in a second major clade where population size estimates are much larger and selection is expected to be more efficient.ConclusionThis study provides evidence that the mitochondrial genomes of animals evolving in nature are susceptible to Muller's Ratchet, suggests that context-dependent compensatory mutations can accumulate in small populations, and predicts that Muller's Ratchet can affect fundamental evolutionary forces such as the rate of mutation.

The reversibility of constraints on size and fecundity in the parasitic nematodeStrongyloides ratti

The size and fecundity of parasitic nematodes are constrained by the host immune response. For the parasitic nematode of rats, Strongyloides ratti, parasitic females infecting immunized rats are smaller and less fecund than those infecting naïve rats. Here, we investigated whether these constraints on size and fecundity are life-long. This was done by comparison of worms from different immunization and immunosuppression regimes. It was found that the per capita fecundity of parasitic females of S. ratti is fully reversed, but that their size is only partially reversed, if previously immunized hosts are subsequently immunosuppressed, suggesting that fecundity is not subject to life-long constraints. The host immune response also resulted in allometric changes in the parasitic females. The significance of these results with respect to the growth and control of nematode fecundity are discussed.

The population dynamics of Ostertagiagruehneri in reindeer: a model for the seasonal and intensity dependent variation in nematode fecundity

The gastrointestinal nematode Ostertagiagruehneri is a parasite of reindeer that can have a significant impact on host population dynamics. To gain a better understanding of the population dynamics of O. gruehneri, we parameterise a model for its fecundity that descibes the observed seasonal and intensity dependent pattern of faecal egg counts well. The faecal egg count model is combined with a model for the seasonal faecal production rate of Svalbard reindeer to obtain quantitative estimates of the fecundity of O. gruehneri. The model is used to evaluate the relative contribution to pasture contamination of variation in the abundance of O. gruehneri and variation in reindeer densities. It is concluded that due to the intensity dependence in nematode fecundity, variation in reinder population densities is likely to be the most important of these factors for pasture contamination.

Regulation of nematode fecundity in the ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus): not just density dependence.

Patterns of nematode fecundity were investigated for infections of the caecal worm Heterakis gallinarum in the ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus). Worm length was a good predictor of parasite fecundity. After controlling for worm length no other factors, including parasite intensity, were related to worm fecundity. Density dependence in worm size was detected in natural infections at parasite intensities above a threshold of 96 worms (worm size decreased with increasing parasite intensity). However, below this threshold, worm size actually decreased with decreasing parasite intensity (inverse density dependence). The interaction between density dependence and inverse density dependence in regulating the development and subsequent fecundity of H. gallinarum worms in ring-necked pheasants was demonstrated in an infection experiment. Density dependence was observed in the stunted growth of worms in heavily infected hosts, relative to worms in lightly infected hosts. Inverse density dependence in worm size was the common pattern across hosts by the end of the experiment, when parasite intensities were below the density dependence threshold. This is the first study to document both density dependence and inverse density dependence in parasite fecundity in the same host-helminth system.

Influence of Bacteria and Temperature On the Reproduction of Caenorhabditis Elegans (Nematoda: Rhabditidae) Infesting Mushrooms (Agaricus Bispor Us)

Ten species of bacteria associated with Caenorhabditis elegans, a saprobic rhabditid nematode infesting cultivated mushroom (Agaricus bisporus), were isolated and identified. In monogenic cultures, five species of bacteria (Acinetobacter calcoaceticus var. anitratus, A. calcoaceticus var. lwoffi, Enterobacter cloacae, Pseudomonas maltophilia and Serratia liquefaciens) sustained the growth and reproduction of C. elegan.v for several generations. Bacillus cereus and Pseudomonas sp. supported growth and reproduction of the nematode, but resulted in smaller populations. E. amnigenus and P. aeruginosa could support nematode growth and reproduction for the first 2-3 generations; Bacillus sp. could support growth but not reproduction. The reproductive capacity of parthenogenetic female C. elegans varied with temperature and bacterial food source. Cubic equations were fitted to the data on nematode fecundity. Temperature optima for reproduction were estimated. Temperature significantly affected generation time of the nematode but bacterial species had little effect. The significance of interactions between C. elegans and its associated bacteria in mushroom culture is discussed.

Reproduction and Development ofAphelenchoides Besseyi

The mode of reproduction of the Indian population ofAphelenchoides besseyi was studied under different temperatures and on different fungal species used for culturing the nematode. Although parthenogenetic reproduction in this species was recorded on all the fungi tested, the influence of the different fungal species on development and population buildup varied. There was a significant increase in nematode fecundity when one or two males were placed along with single females in the medium, as compared with when no male was introduced. Increasing the number of males further to eight depressed fecundity as compared with the treatment with two males.

Development of resistance to Trichostrongylus colubriformis in goats.

A high level of host resistance to Trichostrongylus colubriformis was established in a group of Saanen goats infected weekly with 10,000 infective larvae for 10 weeks, treated with an anthelmintic and then challenged twice with 50,000 larvae, with a further anthelmintic treatment 28 days after the first challenge. A second group of goats exposed only to the two challenge infections developed worm burdens intermediate between, and significantly different from, the first group and a third control group given only the second challenge infection. Nematode fecundity (eggs per female) and male:female ratios were also significantly decreased in the first two groups. Faecal egg counts and worm counts were highly correlated and this relationship was dominated by the influence of the number of eggs/female nematode. The goats were approximately 9 months old at the start of the experiment.

Photodynamic action of erythrosin B as a toxic mechanism for infective larvae of bovine gastrointestinal nematodes

The effect of erythrosin B on adults and 3rd stage larvae of gastrointestinal nematodes of cattle was studied by treating calves per os with 20 mg kg −1, 40 mg kg −1, and 60 mg kg −1 of the dye daily for 21 days and monitoring its effect. Erythrosin B had no detectable effect on adult nematode fecundity or viability. Data collected did indicate, however, that erythrosin B produced a consistent toxic effect on 3rd stage larvae after exposure to fluorescent light. This toxic effect was dependent upon dosage of erythrosin B administered, time of light exposure and, to a much lesser extent, the length of time the larvae were left in culture in the presence of the dye.

The effect of continuous rearing of a population of Globodera pallida (Pa 2) on susceptible or partially resistant potatoes

A population of the white potato cyst nematode, Globodera pallida, (pathotype Pa 2) was reared for 5 years, in outdoor plots in eastern Scotland, on one susceptible and two partially resistant hybrids bred from Solanum vernei. No selection for increased multiplication rate was apparent. Results of a glasshouse pot test after 5 years showed that selection for a small but significant increase in nematode fecundity had occurred in a population produced for five generations on a clone which was 90% resistant.