Author
Carta, Lynn |
Submitted to: BARC Poster Day
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 3/19/1998 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Longevity, fecundity and bacterial preference tests on agar plates are being made with a phylogenetically diverse group of bacterial-feeding nematodes found in agricultural soils. The nematodes Caenorhabditis elegans N2, Pristionchus pacificus PS312, Zeldia punctata PS1153, Panagrellus redivivus PS1163, Mesorhabditis sp. PS1179, Oscheius myriophila aDF5020, Diploscapter sp. PS2123, and Operculorhabditis sp. LKC 10 have bee tested for their preference for either standard E. coli OP-50 or biocontrol bacteria (Burkholderia cepacia strains JED-2, M-35, Bc-F, Bc-2, Pseudomonas fluorescens, PF5 and SE59, Stenotrophomonas maltophila 34S1, Stenotrophomonas corrugata SB45, and Serratia marcescens, N4-5). The common soil bacterium, Enterobacter cloacae 501R3, and the entomopathogenic nematode associate, Xenorhabdus sp., are also being tested. The profiles of each nematode-bacteria combination are variable and complex. Preference efor highly nematoxic bacteria is not uncommon. These patterns may have significant consequences in field situations with different soil bacteria and nematode communities. Each bacteria is also being tested for nematode fecundity with C. elegans N2 and pgp-3 strains to determine which bacteria may affect the pgp-3 toxin transporter. Once bacteria are identified, we can focus on differential bacterial-feeding and parasitic nematode responses. The identified nematode strains may allow us to sequence and identify parts of the pgp-3 molecule to be used for diagnostic purposes relating to target (parasitic nematode) and non-target (free-living nematode) control. This information will also help determine at what level of phylogenetic resolution the evolutionarily conserved pgp-3 molecule may be useful for identifying parasitic and non-parasitic nematodes. |