Hatching mechanisms of nematodes

Abstract

Investigations of nematode hatching have concentrated on the parasitic forms, especially on synchronization between host and parasite life-cycles which, in some species, is so close that the parasite is dependent on the host for the hatching stimulus. Research into nematode hatching reflects the artificial separations created throughout nematology by defining research groups and their activities in terms of the host; consequently, useful comparisons between hatching of plant and animal parasitic nematodes have been few. With the increasing use by geneticists of nematodes as model animals and the interest in them by neuro-physiologists, molecular biologists and others, we hope that such distinctions will be lessened.