<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>We used a phylogenetic framework to examine the relationship between entomopathogenic nematode (EPN) vertical dispersal and infectivity when EPNs are exposed to a mixture of compounds found in late-stage EPN-infected insect cadavers. EPNs from five phylogenetically close and distant species (<italic>Heterorhabditis bacteriophora</italic>, <italic>H. georgiana</italic>, <italic>H. megidis</italic>, <italic>H. indica</italic> and <italic>Steinernema feltiae</italic>) were exposed to cadaver macerate produced by their own species’ infection and by <italic>H. bacteriophora</italic> infected hosts. We found that only three of the five species (<italic>H. bacteriophora</italic>, <italic>H. indica</italic> and <italic>S. feltiae</italic>) responded to exposure to their own macerate by increasing rates of dispersal. When we exposed all five species to a <italic>H. bacteriophora</italic> infected host macerate, we found that only <italic>H. bacteriophora</italic> responded by increasing dispersal, and that the most distantly related species (<italic>S. feltiae</italic>) essentially halted dispersal. These findings suggest that (1) responses to cadaver macerate vary, and (2) there may be a relationship between inherent dispersal rates and sensitivity to macerate exposure, as the most rapidly dispersing species (<italic>H. megidis</italic>) showed no response to macerate exposure.</p>
</abstract>

We used a phylogenetic framework to examine the relationship between entomopathogenic nematode (EPN) vertical dispersal and infectivity when EPNs are exposed to a mixture of compounds found in late-stage EPN-infected insect cadavers. EPNs from five phylogenetically close and distant species (Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, H. georgiana, H. megidis, H. indica and Steinernema feltiae) were exposed to cadaver macerate produced by their own species’ infection and by H. bacteriophora infected hosts. We found that only three of the five species (H. bacteriophora, H. indica and S. feltiae) responded to exposure to their own macerate by increasing rates of dispersal. When we exposed all five species to a H. bacteriophora infected host macerate, we found that only H. bacteriophora responded by increasing dispersal, and that the most distantly related species (S. feltiae) essentially halted dispersal. These findings suggest that (1) responses to cadaver macerate vary, and (2) there may be a relationship between inherent dispersal rates and sensitivity to macerate exposure, as the most rapidly dispersing species (H. megidis) showed no response to macerate exposure.

<article-title xml:lang="en">Infected host responses across entomopathogenic nematode phylogeny

Journal of Nematology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Infected host responses across entomopathogenic nematode phylogeny

We used a phylogenetic framework to examine the relationship between entomopathogenic nematode (EPN) vertical dispersal and infectivity when EPNs are exposed...

Species	Own macerate^a		H. bacteriophora macerate^b
Species	DI water	Macerate	DI water	Macerate
H. bacteriophora	0	4.4 ± 1.1*	0	3.2 ± 2.1
H. georgiana	0	15.9 ± 12.5	0.5 ± 0.5	0.8 ± 0.5
H. megidis	143.7 ± 31.1	83.7 ± 25.4	102.3 ± 50.2	65.3 ± 21.3
H. indica	2.4 ± 1.5	26.1 ± 13.4^†	2.5 ± 2.5	1.8 ± 0.7
S. feltiae	0	8.6 ± 3.9*	0	0

Infected host responses across entomopathogenic nematode phylogeny

Published Online: Dec 14, 2021

Page range: 1 - 9

Received: Jul 15, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/jofnem-2021-105

Keywords
Dispersal, Entomopathogenic nematode, Host cadaver, Infectivity, Macerate

© 2021 Hilal Erdogan et al., published by Sciendo.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Figure 1:

Figure 2:

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Infected host responses across entomopathogenic nematode phylogeny

Published Online: Dec 14, 2021

Page range: 1 - 9

Received: Jul 15, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/jofnem-2021-105

KeywordsDispersal, Entomopathogenic nematode, Host cadaver, Infectivity, Macerate

© 2021 Hilal Erdogan et al., published by Sciendo.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Figure 1:

Figure 2:

Figure 3:

Keywords
Dispersal, Entomopathogenic nematode, Host cadaver, Infectivity, Macerate