It infects more than 200 different plants including economically important crops such as sugar beets, cabbage, broccoli, and radish.

At first, this decrease was believed to be the result of nutrient depletion, but in 1859 the botanist H. Schacht discovered nematode cysts on the roots of affected plants and hypothesized that they were responsible for the disease.

It wasn't until 1871 that another researcher, Schmidt, created the genus Heterodera, and named the nematode H. schachtii in honor of its discoverer.

[4] The cycle begins with eggs deposited either in a gelatinous mass or inside a cyst formed from the body of the female.

If the plant is suitable, the larva will release chemicals from the stylet to form a pocket of lysed cells called a syncytium.

[5] Heterodera schachtii modifies the host root cells and forms a hypermetabolic feeding site which nematodes withdraw nutrients from.

It is assumed that this parasite manipulate the production and signaling of the host plant hormone cytokinin to activate cell division.

[6] Because H. schachtii decreases crop yields globally, it has a significant economic impact on the agricultural industry.