Entomopathogenic Nematodes

By A. Dillman, P. Sternberg. Current Biology, 2012

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Nematodes seem to have evolved to occupy nearly every niche imaginable, including a wide diversity of parasitic niches. Among the vast variety of parasitic nematodes, some have evolved an association with insect pathogenic bacteria. Together the bacteria and nematode are a lethal duo. These nematodes are called ‘entomopathogenic nematodes’ or EPNs for short. Essentially the nematodes serve as mobile vectors for their insect-pathogenic bacteria cargo, like little Typhoid Marys. The nematodes seek out and invade potential hosts and release their pathogenic payload into the nutrient-rich hemolymph. Infected insect hosts die quickly, the bacteria proliferate, the nematodes feed on bacteria and insect tissues, and reproduce. When the host cadaver is depleted of resources, nematodes associated with pathogenic bacteria emerge and search for new hosts to infect (Figure 1). The cooperation with bacteria and the speed with which they kill sets EPNs apart from other nematode parasites.

Subfields: Insect Science, Molecular Biology, Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/f799e857b7b6b826411cc1988434a518932bbecf

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Citations in the corpus

The Hidden and External Costs of Pesticide Use (2016, background): “Bacteria and fungi make nitrogen and other elements available to plants (Bonfante and Anca 2009 ) and, like nematodes, some soil-borne fungi are natural enemies of pest insects (Kaya and Gaugler 1993 ; Klingen and Haukeland 2006 ).”
Global distribution of entomopathogenic nematodes, Steinernema and Heterorhabditis (2020, background): “EPNs from 13 (10 Steinernema and 3 Heterorhabditis) in the late 1980s (Kaya and Gaugler, 1993) to 66 (55 Steinernema and 11 Heterorhabditis) in 2007 (Hunt, 2007; Nguyen et al., 2007).”
An overview on the natural enemies of Rhynchophorus palm weevils, with focus on R. ferrugineus (2014, background): “The ovaries of parasitized weevils are damaged, with possible consequences for the production of eggs (reviewed by Triggiani and Cravedi, 2011).”
Insect pathogens as biological control agents: Back to the future. (2015, background): “Environmental factors are also critical in determining 1627 efficacy of EPN applications (Shapiro-Ilan et al., 2006a; Shapiro-Ilan et al., 2012b).”
Nematode Pathogenesis of Insects and Other Pests (2015, methodology): “, Nematode Pathogenesis of Insects and Other Pests, Sustainability in Plant and Crop Protection 1, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-18266-7_1 3 4 S.P. Stock Grewal et al., 2005; Kaya & Gaugler, 1993; Koppenhöfer, 2007; Shapiro-Ilan, Gouge, & Koppenhöfer, 2002).”