The Biology of Nematodes

648pp  ISBN 0415272114      £125.00

Nematode worms are some of the most common and widely distributed animals on earth. Many species cause serious diseases in humans and livestock and are therefore responsible for much economic loss in agriculture. Almost all animals and plants are susceptible to attack by parasitic nematodes. Although probably best known as parasites, most nematodes are free-living and occur in enormous numbers in almost every habitat suitable for life. Although many parasitic species have been extensively studied because of their medical, veterinary or agricultural importance, the most thoroughly studied nematode is the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the complete genome of which has now been elucidated.

This multi-authored reference text has an international list of contributors and aims to synthesize the knowledge of the biology of free-living, plant parasitic and animal-parasitic nematodes. The use of molecular techniques, many of which have arisen from work on Caenorhabditis elegans, is opening new approaches to the study of nematodes, as reflected in several chapters of this book. Topics include systematics and phylogeny, neuromuscular physiology, locomotion, sense organs, behavior, aging, and the nematode genome. The Biology of Nematodes is a suitable text for graduate students and for research scientists working on parasitic and free-living nematodes from the point of view of agriculture, control, helminthology, immunology, medical and veterinary parasitology, molecular biology, nematology, plant pathology and zoology.

Contents

• Systematic Position & Phylogeny, Mark Blaxter and Paul De Ley
• General Organization, Lynda M. Gibbons
• Life Cycles, Donald Lee
• Male and Female Gametes and Fertilization, Jean-Lou Justine
• Embryology, Developmental Biology and the Genome, Ian Hope
• Hatching, Roland N. Perry
• Cuticle, Moulting, Growth and Exsheathment, Donald Lee
• Feeding and Digestion, Ed Munn and Patricia Munn
• Feeding Behavior of Plant Parasitic Nematodes, Urs Wyss
• Metabolism, Carolyn Behm
• Excretion/Secretion, Ionic and Osmotic Regulation, Dave P. Thompson & Tim G. Geary
• Neuromuscular Organization and Control in Nematodes, Richard Martin, J. Purcell, A.P. Robertson, and M.A. Valkanov
• Locomotion, R. McNeill Alexander
• Nematode Sense Organs, John Jones
• Behavior, Donald Lee
• Nematode Survival Strategies, David Wharton
• Aging, David Gems
• Immunology of Nematode Infection, Haruhiko Maruyama & Yukifumi Nawa
• Biological Control, Brian R. Kerry & William M. Hominick
• Behavior of Entomopathogenic Nematodes, Nobuyoshi Ishibashi
• Chemical Control of Animal-Parasitic Nematodes, George A. Conder
• Anthelmintic Resistance, Nick Sangster & R.J. Dobson
• Molecular Approaches to Novel Crop Resistance against Nematodes, Howard Atkinson
• Epidemiology and Control of Nematode Infection and Disease in Humans, Don A. Bundy, Helen L. Guyatt, and E. Michael