VIEW ARTICLE

The Influence of Storage Temperature on Recovery of Pythium spp. and Meloidogyne incognita from Field Soils. Jimmy K. Golden, Graduate Assistant, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Georgia, Athens 30601, Present address of senior author: Department of Nematology, University of California, Riverside 92502; W. M. Powell(2), and Floyd F. Hendrix, Jr.(3). (2)(3)Associate Professors of Plant Pathology, respectively, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Georgia, Athens 30601. Phytopathology 62:819-822. Accepted for publication 15 February 1972. DOI: 10.1094/Phyto-62-819.

Soil was collected from Tifton, Fort Valley, and Blairsville, Ga., stored at 10 to 35 C in plastic bags for 4 or 8 weeks, and assayed periodically for Pythium spp. and root knot nematodes. The total Pythium population for the Tifton and Fort Valley samples increased above the initial population after storage at 10, 15, and 20 C, with the greatest recovery after storage at 15 C. Recovery was greatest at 10 C from the Blairsville sample. The population of P. irregulare determined the shape of the total curve in all samples. Pythium splendens was recovered from the Tifton sample more often at 15 C. Pythium vexans was the only species recovered at 35 C from the Fort Valley soil during the first 3 weeks of storage. Pythium sylvaticum was isolated more frequently when samples were stored at 25 C. Recovery of Meloidogyne incognita from the Tifton and Blairsville samples decreased with time regardless of storage temperature. However, recovery from the Fort Valley sample was greater than the initial population for the first 8-11 days at 10, 15, and 35 C. Meloidogyne incognita populations were most stable at 10 C in samples from all locations, but declined steadily after 16 days’ storage regardless of temperature.