Historical Overview -- Pine Wilt in Japan: From First Incidence to the Present -- A Brief Overview of the Pine Wood Nematode and Pine Wilt Disease in Canada and the United States -- Pine Wilt Disease in China -- Pine Wilt Disease in Korea -- Pine Wilt Disease in Portugal -- Concluding Remarks -- Pine Wood Nematode -- Taxonomy and Systematics of the Nematode Genus Bursaphelenchus (Nematoda: Parasitaphelenchidae) -- Parasitism Genes of the Pine Wood Nematode -- Embryology and Cytology of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus -- Population Ecology of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus -- Transmission Biology of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus in Relation to Its Insect Vector -- Concluding Remarks -- The Vector Beetle -- Vector-Host Tree Relationships and the Abiotic Environment -- Vector-Nematode Relationships and Epidemiology in Pine Wilt Disease -- Molecular Ecology of Vectors -- Concluding Remarks -- Host Responses and Wilting Mechanisms -- Physiological Incidences Related to Symptom Development and Wilting Mechanism -- Biochemical Responses in Pine Trees Affected by Pine Wilt Disease -- Host Fate Following Infection by the Pine Wood Nematode -- The Role of Bacteria Associated with the Pine Wood Nematode in Pathogenicity and Toxin-Production Related to Pine Wilt -- Concluding Remarks -- Related Microbes -- Bacteria Carried by the Pine Wood Nematode and Their Symbiotic Relationship with the Nematode -- Nematode Fauna and Fungal Flora in Infected Pine Trees -- Interactions of Pine Wood Nematodes, Wood-Inhabiting Fungi, and Vector Beetles -- Concluding Remarks -- Management of Pine Wilt Disease -- Integrated Pest Management of Pine Wilt Disease in Japan: Tactics and Strategies -- Recent Advances in the Integrated Management of the Pine Wood Nematode in China -- Breeding for Resistance to Pine Wilt Disease -- Biological Control of the Japanese Pine Sawyer Beetle, Monochamus alternatus -- Potential of Entomopathogenic Nematodes for Controlling the Japanese Pine Sawyer, Monochamus alternatus -- Concluding Remarks. Pine forests face a global threat of pine wilt disease, which is being spread by vector beetles carrying pathogenic nematodes from dead trees to healthy ones. Among the host pines there are varying degrees of susceptibility, and nematode strains also contain a variety of virulences, both of which factors help to determine whether infected host trees will die or survive. As well, biotic and abiotic environmental factors influence the fate of infected trees. This book describes the history of the disease, pathogenic nematodes, vector beetles, the etiology and ecology of the disease, microorganisms involved, and control methods that utilize host resistance and biological control agents. Concrete, comprehensive, and the most up-to-date knowledge about this worldwide forest epidemic is presented for readers, enabling them to understand the nature and epidemic threat of pine wilt disease.