Adaptive Biology of Plant-parasitic Nematodes: A Review

Nematodes are highly diverse group of organisms in the ecosystems. The biology of nematodes is the sum total of adaptations in relation to the host and the surrounding environment. Nematodes show a variety of adaptations throughout their life-cycle for survival. Under adverse condition such as extreme temperature, lack of oxygen, lack of food, crowded population, they adopted some mechanism which is known as adaptive mechanism. Some physiological or behavioral responses allow nematodes to react more quickly to adverse environmental conditions. The degree of dormancy observed among nematodes varies along a continuum from mild quiescence to anabiosis, depending on the nematode species involved and even within the same species.