Parasitology, Harold W. Manter Laboratory of
Date of this Version
7-1976
Abstract
Nematologists frequently encounter congeneric species in sampling for nematodes. No convenient method for the separation of morphologically similar species has been described. For Meloidogyne spp., inoculum consisting of hundreds of eggs can be easily obtained from a single egg mass and a pure population reared on a suitable host. The separation and culture of other plant parasitic nematode species, such as Paratrichodorus spp., is often more difficult. The species may be separated by placing a single female in the rhizosphere of a host plant, but the chances of a single nematode increasing to a high population in a short time are not great. The dissecting microscope may also be used for separating species which are not very dissimilar, but obtaining high numbers of a single species is difficult, especially when the dissimilarities between species are not easily discernible. We have also tried separating nematodes which had been placed on glass slides and cooled to immobility, but their recovery rate was rapid or many specimens were killed.
Comments
Published in the Journal of Nematology (July 1976) 8(3): 271-272.