Root-Knot Nematodes

Of the many plant parasitic nematodes known to cause crop damage, the root-knot nematodes, Meloidogyne spp., are often recognised as being of greatest economic importance worldwide. These obligate root endoparasites are one of the major limiting factors in the production of a wide range of crops, both cash and food, plantation and subsistence, throughout the tropical and subtropical countries and some species are adapted to the temperate regions.

Dr David Hunt and Dr John Bridge, of CABI's International Institute of Parasitology, have provided PEST CABWeb® with a description of the biology and control of root-knot nematodes.

In May 1997 CABI published a new CD-ROM product entitled Root-Knot Nematode Taxonomic Database, compiled by Dr. Jonathan D. Eisenback, of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, USA. This valuable resource is essentially a CD ROM library for the entire Meloidogyne genus, including more than 80 of the original descriptions complete with photographs and drawings. Descriptions in foreign languages have been translated into English and the text of both original and translation are on the disc. In addition, all of the historical papers since the first observation of the genus in 1855 are included. This disc will enable researchers around the world to have access to all of the information that is necessary to identify a population, to recognise an undescribed species, and to describe it adequately.

The Root-Knot Nematode Taxonomic Database includes the following sections:

  • Classical Root-knot papers - All the classics including Berkley, 1855; Licopoli, 1875; Jobert, 1878; Cornu, 1878; Müller, 1884; Treub, 1885; Goeldi, 1887; Atkinson, 1889; Neal, 1889; Smith and Stone, 1898; Lavergne, 1901; Kofoid and White, 1919; Nagakura, 1930; Goodey, 1932; etc. The articles in foreign languages have been translated into English.
  • Species descriptions - All descriptions including text, photographs, and drawings.
  • Monographs - Publications by Sasser, 1954; Whitehead, 1963, CIH descriptions, 1973-76; Taylor and Sasser, 1978; Eisenback et al., 1984; Kleynhans, 1992, etc.
  • Book chapters - All of the relevant chapters from Goodey, 1933; Christie, 1959; Thorne, 1961; Franklin, 1982; and Eisenback & Triantaphyllou, 1992.
  • Books - Sasser & Carter, 1985.
  • Photographs - SEM and light micrographs of root-knot nematodes and the symptoms they cause on individual plants and plant populations.
  • Movies - Dissecting females from root tissue, picking egg masses, perineal patterns, etc.

This CD-ROM is designed to provide an up-to-date reference and teaching resource for nematologists and others interested in the group of root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne). Further information is available.

Additional related items included in PEST CABWeb®:

Information is also available on:

  • Nematode Vectors of Plant Viruses, by C. E. Taylor, D. J. F. Brown

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