VIEW ARTICLE

Factors Influencing the Hatching of Meloidogyne naasi, and a Comparison with M. hapla. T. R. Watson, Research Assistant, Department of Nematology, University of California, Davis 95616; B. F. Lownsbery, Nematologist, Department of Nematology, University of California, Davis 95616. Phytopathology 60:457-460. Accepted for publication 8 October 1969. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-60-457.

The general failure of eggs of Meloidogyne naasi to hatch in water was not changed by incubation at constant temperatures of –28, 3, 6, 9, 12, 21, 24, 30, or 39 C, by rapid or slow drying, by exposure to pH 3.8, 6.8, or 10.5, or by treatment with potassium permanganate, nicotinic acid, or hydrochloric acid. Hatching was stimulated by (i) cold-warm treatment consisting of incubation at 6 to 9 C for 7 weeks, followed by incubation at 21 to 24 C; (ii) treatment with 0.4% (by wt) sodium hypochlorite solution. No morphological differences between cold-warm treated eggs and untreated eggs were apparent by examination with the electron microscope. Hatching stimulation by sodium hypochlorite may indicate the presence of an inhibitory substance in the egg matrix or egg shell. Hatching of M. hapla is inhibited by the cold-warm temperature treatment which stimulates M. naasi.