Influence of Soil Temperature on Meloidogyne incognita Resistant and Susceptible Cotton, Gossypium hirsutum.

The degree of resistance by a cotton plant to Meloidogyne incognita is affected by soil temperature, particularly in moderately resistant cultivars, The total number of nematodes in the resistant and moderately resistant rools at 35 C was equal to, or greater than, the number in susceptible roots at 20, 25, or 30 C. A shift in numbers to developing and egg-bearing forms of nematodes in the susceptible cultivar as tentperature increased indicates development was affected by temperature rather than by genetic resistance mechanisms. However, the nematode resistant cultivar did not support maturation of nematodes until a soil tempurature of 35 C was attained. This indicated that resistance mechanisms are partially repressed at 35 C and differences in nematode development cannot be explained in terms of accumulated heat units. The moderately resistant cultivar was significantly more sensitive to the effects of high temperature than was the resistant cultivar.