Nathan Cobb

Transcript

00:04

FUN FACTS ABOUT Nematodes

00:07

Do you know?

00:12

Do you know?

00:13

Nematodes are called roundworms or eelworms Because their bodies: Are long, cylindrical, and tapered at each end.

00:22

The word nematode consists of two Greek words: nema- meaning “thread” + odes- meaning “like”. So nematode means “threadlike”

00:31

Nematodes are present everywhere in the world: freshwater saltwater mountain tops and in polar regions.

00:39

For every human on Earth, we have 60 billion nematodes. They are the second-most abundant organism in the world.

00:48

Nematodes evolved from simple animals Around 400 million years ago Before the "Cambrian explosion" of invertebrates

00:57

The oldest fossil of nematodes was found in: A Lebanese amber It was dated 130-135 million years ago.

01:06

The earliest parasitic nematode is a primitive plant parasite Existed in the Devonian era and called Palaeonema phyticum. Unfortunately, it is extinct.

01:15

The largest nematode is Placentonema gigantissima It is a parasite in the placenta of a sperm whale. It is 8.4 m long.

01:24

A nematode survived the Columbia space shuttle disaster in 2003 It is a model organism for molecular biology Called Caenorhabditis elegans.

01:32

The oldest living organism on earth is a nematode It existed from the Pleistocene era It is 42000 years old. Still alive and was discovered in Siberia.

01:40

The first plant parasitic nematode is Anguina (seed gall). Was accidentally identified by Turbevil Needham in 1743 Was first called Vibrio tritici.

01:51

Only 15% of the nematode phylum are parasites of plants. They are known as agricultural pathogens They cause massive crop losses.

01:60

Root-knot nematodes are nice designers of roots They make beads on plant roots Probably the most-notorious plant-parasitic nematode First reported in 1855 by Berkeley on cucumbers

02:09

The renowned nematologist Nathan Cobb was poetic He wrote in 1914: If arranged single file, the nematodes from a 10-acre field would form a procession long enough to reach around the world.

02:19

Thank you so much for watching

02:22

This video was created for the Cobb Nematology Foundation Science and Art Contest