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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Redescription of the nematode Philometra obturans (Prenant, 1886) with a key to the philometrid nematodes parasitic in European freshwater fishes.

A redescription of the nematode Ph. obturans (Prenant, 1886), based on specimens from pike (Esox lucius L.) from the R. Elbe basin in Czechoslovakia, is presented. In addition to gravid, subgravid and mature females from the blood system also the male and mature female, found for the first time in the host's eye, are described. The paper is supplemented by a key for the identification of the philometrid nematodes parasitizing freshwater fishes of Europe.

Animals

A synopsis of the nematodes occurring in blackflies (Diptera: Simuliidae).

Larvae, pupae, and adult blackflies (Simuliidae) are capable of harbouring several groups of nematodes. Multiple parasitism involving nematodes of the same or different species, or various developmental stages of the same nematode may also occur. Thus, blackflies can serve as paratenic, intermediate, or definitive hosts of nematodes. The present study reviews the literature pertaining to the association between nematodes and Simuliidae and provides a key to various groups of nematodes found in blackflies. Emphasis is placed on the commoner filarial and mermithid nematodes, but several other unusual and rare roundworm parasites are also discussed.

Animals

N6-methyladenine DNA modification modulates pathogen virulence in nematodes.

Understanding the global regulatory mechanisms that control pathogen virulence gene expression is essential for elucidating the molecular basis of pathogenicity. N6-methyladenine (6 mA) plays a crucial role in regulating gene expression in response to various environmental stresses; however, its role in pathogen virulence remains largely unexplored. Here, we report the widespread occurrence of 6 mA across 17 nematode isolates and map its genomic landscape in six notorious agriculturally important pathogen root-knot nematodes (RKNs). We demonstrated that 6 mA is characterized by a conserved GAG motif across nematodes, but exhibits species-specific distribution patterns and distinct effects on gene expression. In particular, its enrichment in transposable elements (TEs) differs between polyploid and diploid nematodes, suggesting lineage-specific epigenetic regulation potentially associated with polyploidy. We further identified two functional 6 mA demethylases, MiNMAD-1 and MiNMAD-2, and confirmed their catalytic activity and active sites. Host-induced gene silencing (HIGS) of minmad-1 significantly increased plant resistance to three polyploid RKN species. A detailed functional analysis revealed that minmad-1 knockdown broadly affected gene expression during the parasitic stage, including genes involved in virulence, thereby reducing nematode infectivity. Together, our findings suggest 6 mA demethylase as a key epigenetic regulator of RKNs' virulence, providing new insights into nematode biology and offering promising targets for the development of sustainable control strategies.

Animals

[The effect of dehelminthizations performed during the year on the seasonal dynamics of natural nematode infections in sheep].

In four sheep flocks of two age categories dynamics of natural infections by pulmonary and gastrointestinal nematodes was studied; sheep were kept on a farm in Western Bohemia. Dehelminthizations were performed in different intervals during the grazing period on the basis of the results of quantitative coprologic examinations. Total effectiveness of 80--100% intenseffectiveness (IE) was obtained as a result of single peroral or intraruminal dehelminthization with the following preparations: pyrantel hydrochloricum (Spofa), helmatac (SKF) and nilverm (ICI); the effectiveness concerned gastrointestinal nematodes of the genus Haemonchus, Cooperia, Ostertagia, Trichostrongylus, Bunostomum, Chabertia, Nematodirus, Strongyloides, Oesophagostomum and Trichocephalus. The effectiveness of nilverm on lungworms of D. filaria and P. kochi reached 100%; the preparation was less effective and ineffective on M. capillaris. Dehelminthization practices during three years were more successful as to lowering of incidence of lungworm infections of D. filaria and P. kochi than in gastrointestinal nematodes. If sping dehelminthizations had been postponed till the second half of May or June, the climax of the elimination of ova from summer re-infection was put off till November, with an initial significant increase in September. The third dehelminthization, applied in August, did not result in the increased elimination of ova in autumn, while there was no usual autumnal climax following September dehelminthization. Effective dehelminthization performed at the end of November in all three years maintained low levels of infections during winter housing and significantly influenced the health conditions of ewes before lambing. Dynamics of the elimination of ova after dehelminthization was affected by nematodes with the migration phase in organs and tissues -- S. papillosus, Oesophagostomum sp. and Ostertagia sp.; the same effect was observed, during pasture, in nematodes with relatively short exogenous development of the genus Haemonchus, Ostertagia, Trichostrongylus and Nematodirus. In spite of these dehelminthization practices, the elimination of ova and larvae corresponded to the course of temperatures and rainfall in spring and autumn climaxes every year.

Animals

[Cystogenous nematode, Heterodera (Globodera) mali sp. n., an apple parasite in Kazakhstan].

There has been no information on cystogenous nematodes of the genus Heterodera injuring apple trees. The paper checks the first finding of these nematodes on the roots of a cultivated apple tree. The nematodes proved to be a new species, Heterodera mali sp. n. The apple cystogenous nematode resembles the potato cystogenous nematode H. rostochiensis Woll. in having a round body, small cleft of the vulva and similar sizes of eggs. It differs from H. rostochiensis in smaller sizes (on the average 5 against 9) very transparent and thin cuticle, a small distance between vulva and anus (on the average 43 against 86), a smaller value of the Granek's index (on the average 1.3 against 4.6), a smaller number of cuticular folds between vulva and anus (on the average 7 against 21) and different plant-hosts. A detailed description of H. mali sp. n. is given.

Animals

Changes in the adenylate energy charge of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis and Nematodirus battus during the development of immunity to these nematodes in their host.

Infection of rats with 2000 infective juveniles of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis and of lambs with 60 000 infective juveniles of Nematodirus battus results in a well-marked immunity to these nematodes in their respective host. There is a fall in the adenylate energy charge value of these nematodes during the course of these infections, reaching values of 0.37 in males and 0.27 in females of N. brasiliensis, and 0.31 in males and 0.23 in females of N. battus towards the end of the infections. In hosts given relatively small numbers of infective juveniles, the values for the nematodes removed from the hosts late in the infection remain at a relatively high level. These results indicate that the immune response of the host may affect the energy status of these nematodes, and this could help to explain their subsequent expulsion from the immune host.

Adenine Nucleotides

From Sequential Gland Replacement to Recurrent Gland Coordination: A Comparative Framework for Subventral and Dorsal Oesophageal Gland Effectors Across Plant-Parasitic Nematode Lifestyles.

Plant-parasitic nematodes manipulate host tissues through stylet-secreted gene products synthesised principally in two subventral and one dorsal oesophageal gland. Earlier reviews have catalogued effector repertoires, described feeding-site formation, and explained how individual effectors modify host defence, development, and metabolism. However, the temporal coordination of the gland cells themselves has not been comparatively synthesised across parasitic lifestyles. This review therefore advances a gland-centred, lifestyle-dependent framework. In sedentary endoparasites, available evidence supports a pronounced developmental transition: subventral gland products dominate penetration and migration, whereas dorsal gland products become increasingly important during feeding-site initiation and maintenance. Migratory endoparasites repeatedly penetrate, migrate, and feed without establishing permanent feeding cells; their gland activity is consequently predicted to be recurrent and overlapping rather than a one-way replacement. Ectoparasites likewise require behaviour-dependent coordination during repeated probing and external feeding, although direct gland localisation evidence remains limited. We integrate gland origin, secretion chemistry, infection stage, and parasitic behaviour across root-knot, cyst, citrus, false root-knot, lesion, burrowing, and ectoparasitic nematodes. The synthesis distinguishes experimentally demonstrated gland localisation from evidence-weighted inference and formulates testable predictions for comparative gland transcriptomics, spatial expression, and functional silencing. This framework also identifies gland activation, secretion, and stage-critical products as targets for RNA interference, genome editing, resistance breeding, and sustainable nematode management. The principal novelty is therefore not another catalogue of nematode effectors, but a comparative model explaining when and why subventral and dorsal glands exchange, retain, or alternate their functions across contrasting parasitic lifestyles.

dorsal gland

Tetrachlorvinphos as an ineffective feed additive in control of gastrointestinal nematodes of beef cattle.

Tetrachlorvinphos was evaluated for anthelmintic efficacy as a feed additive against gastrointestinal nematodes of cattle. Tetrachlorvinphos was added to the mineral mixture of medicated cattle (n = 13) at the rate of 1.6 mg/day/kg of body weight for a 29-week period beginning May 2, 1975. Data suggest that the level of parasitism, as estimated by the number of nematode eggs per gram of feces, was not reduced by the addition of tetrachlorvinphos to the mineral mixture of medicated cattle. Results obtained from identification and quantification of nematodes recovered at necropsy from 6 medicated and 6 nonmedicated control heifers indicated that tetrachlorvinphos was ineffective as an anthelmintic against gastrointestinal nematodes of cattle.

Animal Feed

Actin and myosin-linked calcium regulation in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Biochemical and structural properties of native filaments and purified proteins.

Calcium regulation of actomyosin activity in the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, has been studied with purified proteins and crude thin filaments. Actin and tropomyosin have been purified from C. elegans and shown to be similar in most respects to actin and tropomyosin from rabbit skeletal muscle. The actin comigrates with rabbit actin on polyacrylamide-sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis, forms similar filaments and paracrystals, and activates the Mg2+-ATPase of rabbit myosin heads as efficiently as rabbit actin. Nematode tropomyosin has a greater apparent molecular weight (estimated by mobility on polyacrylamide-sodium dodecyl sulfate gels) than the rabbit protein, yet it forms Mg2+-paracrystals with a slightly shorter periodicity. Native thin filaments extracted from nematodes activate rabbit myosin subfragment 1 Mg2+-ATPase in a calcium sensitive manner; the extent of activation is threefold greater in 0.2 mM CaCl2 than in the absence of calcium. This observation suggests that the thin filaments contain components which are functionally equivalent to vertebrate troponins. Calcium is also required for maximal activation of the Mg2+-ATPase of purified nematode myosin by pure rabbit F-actin. C. elegans therefore has both myosin and thin filament-linked calcium regulatory systems. The origin of the actin, tropomyosin, and myosin from different tissues and the use of genetic analysis to answer questions about assembly and function in vivo are discussed.

Actins

The specificity of nematode allergens in the diagnosis of human visceral larva migrans.

Extracts of nematodes have been used as skin test antigens in the diagnosis of nematode infections for many years. Ascaris lumbricoides and Toxocara canis are two nematodes commonly involved in human parasitism, the latter being associated with the clinical condition of Visceral Larva Migrans. In vitro and in vivo experiments reported in this paper confirm experimentally, as well as clinically, the existence of cross-reacting antigens between T. canis and Ascaris spp., and probably between T. canis and other nematodes. These cross-reactions compromise the usefulness of skin tests in the diagnosis of such parasitic infections.

Allergens

Age-related increase of cuticle permeability in the nematode Caenorhabditis briggsae.

The external cuticular surface of nematodes, which resembles cellular membranes in certain ways, appears to deteriorate with age. For example, when the permeabilities to radioactive water of young and old nematodes were compared, and the data were corrected for the different surface: volume ratios, the older nematodes were significantly more permeable. In both living and dead nematodes, the same rates of water exchange were observed, indicating that the major route of exchange was probably by passive diffusion through the cuticle rather than by active processes such as swallowing or excreting water.

Aging

Preparation of nematodes for scanning electron microscopy.

Nematodes from the orders Tlyenchida and Rhabditida were fixed and processed in several different ways for examination with the scanning electron microscope (SEM). Four processes produced good preparations of fixed nematodes. Drying from acetone was the simplest of these techniques and most useful for regions of the tylenchid nematodes supported by skeletal tissue. Critical point drying, a more complicated procedure, gave good preparations, but they required special care in processing. Nematodes infiltrated with glycerol and a conducting agent were the most life-like but were difficult to examine. Specimens infiltrated with an epoxy resin looked natural and this was the most promising process tried.

Animals

Adaptation of the Cyst Nematode Globodera pallida to the Colinear Potato Resistant QTLs GpaVvrn and GpaVspl Involved Distinct Genomic Regions and Absence of Cross-Virulence.

The use of alternative methods to control cyst nematode populations has accelerated since the ban of chemical nematicides in Europe. The resistant QTL GpaVvrn, derived from the wild species Solanum vernei, is widely present in resistant European potato cultivars and provides strong protection against Globodera pallida populations although a risk of resistance breakdown has already been demonstrated in both experimental evolution studies and field populations. The wild relative S. sparsipilum, harbouring the resistant QTL GpaVspl, would be an interesting alternative source of resistance to control virulent G. pallida. The goal of the present study was to understand the genomics of adaptation of the nematode to these two colinear resistant QTLs. Starting with two natural populations, an experimental evolution approach allowed, after 10 generations on resistant potato genotypes, selecting independent nematode lineages adapted to each QTL. These virulent lineages were analysed through a combination of phenotyping and genome scans approaches. Phenotyping enabled the quantification of virulence levels and confirmed resistance breakdowns. Pool-Seq whole genome sequencing followed by genome scan analyses identified genomic regions under selection, potentially involved in the adaptive mechanisms to each resistance factor. Candidate genes within these regions provided insights into the genetic basis of adaptation, revealing effectors known to suppress plant immunity. As genome scans highlighted distinct genomic regions for the adaptation to both resistant factors, we were able to predict and phenotypically confirm the absence of cross-virulence between nematode lineages evolving on GpaVvrn and GpaVspl. These findings have significant implications for the design of effective and sustainable resistance management strategies.

Animals

The immunological consequences of nematode infection.

Nematode infections in the gut induce a strong immune response which is rapidly detected parenterally. The response is thymus-dependent and long-lasting and involves both antibodies and cell-mediated reactions. The immunological response to unrelated antigens, tumours and other infectious organisms is altered in animals infected with nematodes. Both antibodies and sensitized lymphocytes participate in the immune response which affects the nematodes themselves, and characteristically the lymphocyte-dependent step cannot act in lactating animals and is neither induced nor able to act in young animals. Present evidence suggests that, despite their well-known association with helminth infections, parasite rejection from the gut does not require the participation of IgE antibodies, mast cells or eosinophils. Homing of lymphoblasts from the mesenteric lymph node or thoracic duct lymph to the small intestine is increased in rats and mice infected with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis or Trichinella spiralis and the increase is antigenically non-specific. In mice infected with T. spiralis this increase is represented mainly by thymus-derived lymphoblasts.

Animals

The parasitic nematode Haemonchus contortus lacks molybdenum cofactor synthesis, leading to sulphite sensitivity and lethality in vitro.

Sulphite oxidase has an essential role in detoxifying environmental and endogenously generated sulphite into sulphate and requires the molybdenum cofactor (Moco) to function. Until recently it was believed that the synthesis pathway for Moco was so important for survival that it was conserved in all multicellular animals. Here we report the use of comparative genomics to identify the absence of the first enzyme involved in Moco synthesis in Haemonchus contortus, a highly pathogenic and economically important helminth of livestock that, similar to many parasitic nematode species, has proved difficult to maintain in vitro. We show that Moco deficiency in Haemonchus leads to a high sensitivity to environmental sulphite and limits the ability to maintain the early parasitic larval stages in vitro. Analogous losses in Moco synthesis in other recently sequenced nematode species are also identified. These findings may lead to improved culture methods for parasitic nematodes and to novel approaches for their control.

Animals

A cooperative regulatory module between TAGL2 and JMJC1 activates specific defense genes against root-knot nematodes in tomato.

Plant-parasitic nematodes (PPNs) threaten global food security. Although epigenetic modifications are crucial for plant immunity, how histone modifiers contribute to root-knot nematodes (RKNs, Meloidogyne incognita) resistance remains unclear. Here, using genetic, molecular and biochemical approaches, we investigated the epigenetic and transcriptional mechanisms underlying RKN resistance mediated by the histone demethylase (HDM) JMJC1 and the MADS-box transcription factor TAGL2 in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). We identified JMJC1 as an RKN-induced positive defense regulator targeting H3K9me3 and H3K27me3 histone marks. JMJC1 physically interacts with TAGL2, which also positively regulates RKN resistance. Transcriptomic analysis indicated that TAGL2 regulates multiple layers of the plant defense network, transcriptionally activating representative genes from distinct pathways (including PUB10, bHLH98, CCaMK, and SAUR3), which we validated as positive regulators of RKN resistance via virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS). At the chromatin level, TAGL2 and JMJC1 co-regulate these loci, associating with localized H3K9me3 and H3K27me3 reduction. Furthermore, TAGL2 directly activates JMJC1 transcription, establishing a positive feedback loop that amplifies immune signaling. Our findings reveal a cooperative model wherein a HDM and a transcription factor coordinate at specific loci to fine-tune multiple defense layers at both epigenetic and transcriptional levels, providing insights for breeding durable nematode-resistant plants.

Solanum lycopersicum

Experimental transmission of gastro-intestinal nematodes between sheep (Ovis aries) and Thomson's gazelles (Gazella thomsonii).

Experimental cross-transmission of gastro-intestinal nematodes between Merino sheep (Ovis aries) and Thomson's gazelles (Gazella thomsonii) from similar but separate grazing habitats in Kenya was studied. Cross-transmission did occur with some species but the faecal egg counts of sheep were higher than the gazelles' following infection with larvae isolated from either sheep or gazelles. Of the 11 gastro-intestinal nematodes which became established in gazelles following infection with larvae cultured from nematodes in gazelles, only Haemonchus contortus, Trichostrongylus probolurus and Cooperia hungi were infective for sheep. Following infection with larvae of either sheep or gazelle origin, the H. contortus recovered from the sheep at necropsy were more numerous and had greater average weights, lengths and spicule lengths than those recovered from the gazelles. This would suggest that H. contortus is primarily a sheep parasite. It is concluded that Thomson's gazelles probably would not contribute significantly to the problem of haemonchosis in sheep in areas of shared grazing, unless efforts were being made to eradicate the parasite from sheep, in which case the gazelles would act as a continuing reservoir of infection.

Animals