Feeding Dimorphism in a Mycophagous Nematode, Bursaphelenchus sinensis.

ABSTRACT: Phenotypic plasticity has been widely reported in animals and can drive investment in new biological characters that engender ecological adaptability. The nematode family Diplogastridae, especially Pristionchus pacificus with its dramatic stomatal (feeding) dimorphism, has become an important model system to analyze the evolutionary and developmental aspects of polyphenism. However, this plasticity has not been confirmed in other nematode groups. In the present study, we experimentally examined the feeding dimorphism of a fungal feeding free-living nematode, Bursaphelenchus sinensis. In a laboratory culturing experiment, the nematode expressed dimorphism, i.e., a small proportion of the population manifested as a predatory form. This form only occurred in females and was not clearly influe

SUBMITTER: Kanzaki N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6765002 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature