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CAES scientists discover how cyst nematodes attack crops

People love the taste of sugar beets’ primary byproduct: white sugar. Soilborne cyst nematodes — parasitic, microscopic worms — enjoy the root vegetable, too, but as their sole food source. It’s an obstinate, expensive problem for farmers that researchers at the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences are working to solve. In a study published in the journal PLOS Pathogens, plant nematologist Melissa Mitchum and researcher Xunliang Liu have made a significant discovery toward understanding how cyst nematodes co-opt a sugar beet’s vascular system for their own benefit.

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