Holden-Dye Lindy, Walker Robert J
Southampton Neuroscience Group (SoNG), Centre for Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK.
WormBook. 2014 Dec 16:1-29. doi: 10.1895/wormbook.1.143.2.
Parasitic nematodes infect many species of animals throughout the phyla, including humans. Moreover, nematodes that parasitise plants are a global problem for agriculture. As such, these nematodes place a major burden on human health, on livestock production, on the welfare of companion animals and on crop production. In the 21st century there are two major challenges posed by the wide-spread prevalence of parasitic nematodes. First, many anthelmintic drugs are losing their effectiveness because nematode strains with resistance are emerging. Second, serious concerns regarding the environmental impact of the nematicides used for crop protection have prompted legislation to remove them from use, leaving agriculture at increased risk from nematode pests. There is clearly a need for a concerted effort to address these challenges. Over the last few decades the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has provided the opportunity to use molecular genetic techniques for mode of action studies for anthelmintics and nematicides. These approaches continue to be of considerable value. Less fruitful so far, but nonetheless potentially very useful, has been the direct use of C. elegans for anthelmintic and nematicide discovery programmes. Here we provide an introduction to the use of C. elegans as a 'model' parasitic nematode, briefly review the study of nematode control using C. elegans and highlight approaches that have been of particular value with a view to facilitating wider-use of C. elegans as a platform for anthelmintic and nematicide discovery and development.
寄生线虫感染包括人类在内的整个动物界的许多物种。此外，寄生植物的线虫是农业面临的全球性问题。因此，这些线虫给人类健康、畜牧生产、伴侣动物福利和作物生产带来了重大负担。在21世纪，寄生线虫的广泛流行带来了两大挑战。第一，许多驱虫药正失去效力，因为具有抗药性的线虫菌株正在出现。第二，对用于作物保护的杀线虫剂的环境影响的严重担忧促使立法禁止使用它们，这使农业面临线虫害虫的风险增加。显然需要共同努力应对这些挑战。在过去几十年里，自由生活的线虫秀丽隐杆线虫为使用分子遗传学技术进行驱虫药和杀线虫剂的作用方式研究提供了机会。这些方法仍然具有相当大的价值。到目前为止成效较小，但仍然可能非常有用的是直接将秀丽隐杆线虫用于驱虫药和杀线虫剂的发现计划。在这里，我们介绍秀丽隐杆线虫作为“模型”寄生线虫的用途，简要回顾利用秀丽隐杆线虫进行线虫控制的研究，并强调具有特别价值的方法，以期促进更广泛地将秀丽隐杆线虫用作驱虫药和杀线虫剂发现与开发的平台。
