Feeding Habits
X. americanum is a plant parasite that lives entirely in the soil and is attracted to young, growing roots due to source-sink dynamics. These nematodes are migratory ectoparasites and all of the life stages of the American Dagger Nematode feed at the root tips of plants. Since it is a migratory ectoparasite, they remain outside the root or other feeding areas and feed on epidermal cells or on cells deeper in the root. This ectoparasitism allows the nematode to move freely to different hosts throughout its life cycle. This nematode is considered to be an obligate parasite. It can survive within plant debris, however it needs living plant tissue to feed.
Once the nematode arrives at a root tip, it feeds by puncturing several successive layers of the plant's cells with its odontostyle; while penetrating, the nematode secretes enzymes that result in cell hypertrophy and thickening. The nematode is then able to begin extracting the cell's cytoplasm. The feeding period of X. americanum can last anywhere from several hours to several days, with the average being around 36 hours at each feeding site along the plant's roots. While feeding, it is common for the nematodes to remain still with their bodies either outstretched or curled, and following the feeding period they move slowly along the length of the root with their stylet remaining protruded and in search of a new feeding site. Unlike some species of nematodes, the observation of food passing into the gut of X. americanum is not seen. Although the nematodes are non-specific in their Host Range, they generally feed on plants that are in poorer condition for a shorter amount of time.
Read more about this topic: Xiphinema Americanum
Famous quotes containing the words feeding and/or habits:
“The will to domination is a ravenous beast. There are never enough warm bodies to satiate its monstrous hunger. Once alive, this beast grows and grows, feeding on all the life around it, scouring the earth to find new sources of nourishment. This beast lives in each man who battens on female servitude.”
—Andrea Dworkin (b. 1946)
“The habits of our whole species fall into three great classes—useful labour, useless labour, and idleness. Of these the first only is meritorious; and to it all the products of labor rightfully belong; but the two latter, while they exist, are heavy pensioners upon the first, robbing it of a large portion of its just rights. The only remedy for this is to, as far as possible, drive useless labour and idleness out of existence.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)