What type of worms are Nematodes?
Tell me some general facts about them
Nematodes- round worms

Tell me about the structure of nematodes
(Males spicules to hold vulva open bursa in some males hold to female)

Tell me about the shedding of the nematodes and when this occurs?
Tell me how growth occurs
All show growth with shedding of a complex cuticle
– shedding occurs 4 times, sometimes 5 (as the egg could be viewed as one of the shedding stages)
Tell me more about the nematodes structure
Nematodes usually lack holdfasts (cf cestodes and trematodes)
But instead, what do they have?
How does this work?
Nematodes- usually lack holdfasts (cf Cestodes and Trematodes)
But some have “teeth”- sit around pharynx so also suck through this
The GI tract is full and patent at both end- strong pumping oesophagus which changes between species and over life span of organism
Tell me about the muscular oesophagus in the nematodes
Muscular oesophagus – changes in shape between groups and in developmental stages -all have associated glands
Beyond the oesophagus valve the gut is a simple epithelial tube until the cloaca
Shape of oesophagus used to identify species and stage
Hermaphroditic here – and sincytial hypodermis
Full of fluid and acts as a skeleton of organism as helps to keep its structure
Excretory duct and channel which is important for ionic balance as opposed to nitrogenous balance

What are the different forms of the nematodes, describe their appearance and when this form is taken?

The exact arrangement of muscle fibres alters between species

The cuticle is under high pressure
Over 100 collagen forms- in cuticle- far more than mammals
Cells below basement membrane which produce that membrane (this is a mirror in humans as they have the other way round)
30 collagen tubes?

Tell me about the Pseudocoelom
Between the somatic muscles and the GI tract
Non compressible fluid – i.e., a hydrostatic skeleton
No circulatory system – but haemolymph acts to transport solutes
Some forms have a defined excretory system but most loss of nitrogenous waste is via diffusion over cuticle
Is under pressure and if damaged will burst
Tell me about the nervous system of the nematode
Formed predominantly from a nerve ring about the oesophagus / pharynx
C elegans 20 neurons innervate the pharynx and organise a ring shape structure, 282 somatic neurons
Dorsal/ Ventral and smaller lateral nerves innervating glands, rectum/ cloaca/ muscles (former) receive input from touch and chemoreceptive cilia, papillae, and bristles

Classes causing human disease

What is the life cycle of the Rhabditodea?
What is the timing of the cycle based on?
What are some signals?
Timing based upon C elegans - Egg dauer stage- diapause
Signals such as temperature, food supply, and levels of a dauer-inducing pheromone, a population density cue,

What does the Rhabditodea (Rhabditina) Class contain?
Rhabditoidea (C elegans and others- free living or parasitic)
Strongyloides (mostly parasitic worms)
This class contains the widest selection of nematodes- many are free living non parasites
some are obligate parasites and some facultative parasites
C elegans is a member of the group
Heterorhabditis … obligate parasites of insects, used as biological control agent
What does the nematode carry and what does this cause?
The nematode carries a toxic bacterium Photorhabdus luminensces which kills the grub
What is Strongyloidea?
Superfamily of worms mainly GI worms of herbivores (generally 2 sexes and oviparous)
Give an example of a Strongyloidea
Eg Haemochonchus contortus (sheep- v high losses, if infected it will kill sheep)
However, Human Hookworms* are part of this family
*Don’t need to know these two names but it would be good if we did
Whats the life cycle of the Strongyloidea?
Blood sucking GI worms

Tell me about the stages of the Rhabditodea and what this means
L1 and. L2, the feeding non-infective rhabditoform stage, feed on soil microbes L3 the filariform stage is the non-feeding infective form of the larvae.
The filariformL3 larvae highly motile non feeding, and migrates up through soil.

Tell me about how the Rhabditodea infects their host?
Infect host through skin penetration (rare ingested) usually from soil with faecal contamination.
Larvae enters the vascular system (Blood Vessels and lymphatics)
carried to the lungs (see later)
and coughed or passed in cilia up the trachea
are swallowed and attach to the small intestine
where the larvae L3- mature to adult worms L5 (~ 1cm long- but can have infections of 1000s and each removed ~0.3ml blood per day)
Long term infection. Don’t need to know exact times just that its long term
(However, L3 may encyst during body migration- give longer infection)
They mate inside the host, females laying up to 30,000 eggs per day, in warm conditions eggs develop in ~10 days to L3
Infection is usually asymptomatic with hookworm disease but what can it cause?
What can a high infection with hookworm disease lead to?
However high infection levels may cause chronic disease iron deficiency, anaemia, and protein malnutrition in children causes growth retardation and cognitive impairment.
Tell me about Translactation and Transplacental infection with hookworm disease
Skin-invasive larvae may migrate around the body via the circulation, to become dormant inside muscle fibres.
They may reactivate and re-enter the circulation (very common during pregnancy presumably by sudden hormonal changes), pass into the mammary glands and through its mother’s milk (cf canine infection). Explains heavy, hookworm infections very young children. (May also show transplacental infection – also observed in other species
Human ileum with hookworm infection
