Survival of Plant-parasitic Nematodes inside the Host

This chapter reviews the recent literature on various aspects of nematode survival in plants and summarizes the morphological, molecular and physiological adaptations to plant parasitism in nematodes. It describes the life support structures induced by nematodes in host plant tissues, and because plants appear to 'tolerate' feeding nematodes, it examines evidence that nematodes must have evolved ways to modulate the innate immunity of the host. It also summarizes the current concepts of innate immunity in plants, which are mostly founded on work done with plant pathogenic fungi and bacteria. The molecular tools used by plant parasitic nematodes to modulate host defence responses are addressed. Future prospects are give