RNA interference is a powerful tool for investigating gene function which has been used extensively in model organisms such as Caenorhabditis elegans and has been adapted as a high-throughput screening method to identify genes. However, recent research indicates that the application of RNAi to animal parasitic nematodes has some problems. For example, the variability of RNAi to different parasitic nematodes or the same nematode in different stages is great. Reasons to explain why RNAi does not work well in animal parasitic nematodes include: (1) the efficacy of RNAi delivery methods in different nematodes is extremely variable; (2) RNAi mechanism has been applied to related nematodes and most of them are gene functional defect; (3) different lifestyles of nematodes may influence on the efficacy of RNAi. If we can find out the methods which can solve these questions, there are still application prospects for using RNAi in parasitic nematodes with improved RNAi effect.
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J Chem Ecol
January 2025
Department of Nematology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA.
Plants produce defensive toxins to deter herbivores. In response, some specialized herbivores evolved resistance and even the capacity to sequester toxins, affecting interactions at higher trophic levels. Here, we test the hypothesis that potential natural enemies of specialized herbivores are differentially affected by plant toxins depending on their level of adaptation to the plant-herbivore system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParasite Epidemiol Control
February 2025
Veterinary Medicine and Animal Production Department, Naples University, 8 Via Mezzocannone, 80138 Naples, Italy.
The beech marten () is a small-size mustelid endangered according to the IUCN Red List. Despite the plethora of parasites potentially affecting its population decline, subcutaneous filarioids are occasionally reported in martens and their competent arthropod vectors are to date unknown. Therefore, from January 2023 to August 2024, this study investigated the presence of subcutaneous filarioids and ectoparasites of road-killed beech martens ( = 7) from southwestern Italy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMethodsX
June 2025
Infection and Innate Immunity Lab, Department of Biological Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA.
The entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) Steinernema carpocapsae and Steinernema hermaphroditum can efficiently infect the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. The EPN infective juvenile (IJ) stage is the free-living and non-feeding stage that seeks out suitable insects to infect. While previous studies have described successful infection of melanogaster larvae with a standard amount of 100 IJs, the pathogenicity of a single IJ nematode towards insects remains poorly understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParasitology
January 2025
Department of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), Edinburgh, UK.
Plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) may improve gastrointestinal health by exerting immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory and/or antiparasitic effects. Bark extracts from coniferous tree species have previously been shown to reduce the burden of a range of parasite species in the gastrointestinal tract, with condensed tannins as the potential active compounds. In the present study, the impact of an acetone extract of pine bark () on the resistance, performance and tolerance of genetically diverse mice () was assessed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParasit Vectors
January 2025
Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Melbourne Veterinary School, Faculty of Science, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia.
Background: Nippostrongylus brasiliensis-a nematode of rodents-is commonly used as a model to study the immunobiology of parasitic nematodes. It is a member of the Strongylida-a large order of socioeconomically important parasitic nematodes of animals. Lipids are known to play essential roles in nematode biology, influencing cellular membranes, energy storage and/or signalling.
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