The chemical composition of the egg shells of the potato cyst-nematode, Heterodera rostochiensis Woll.

1. Eggs of the potato cyst-nematode (Heterodera rostochiensis Woll.) were isolated by sieving a suspension of crushed cysts. Eggs were broken open by ultrasonic vibration and the egg shells separated from the released larvae by centrifuging in a potassium tartrate density gradient. About 1 mg. of dried egg shells was obtained from 1000 cysts. 2. The major constituent of the egg shells was protein (59%, calculated from nitrogen content). About 80% of the egg shells went into solution on acid hydrolysis. Of the 18 amino acids determined with the Technicon Auto-Analyser, proline was most abundant and, with aspartic acid, glycine and serine, made up about 64% by weight of the total amino acids. The small amounts of aromatic and sulphur-containing amino acids, and the presence of hydroxy-proline, indicate a collagen-like protein. 3. The egg shells gave a positive van Wisselingh colour test for chitin, and glucosamine was detected in their acid hydrolysate by chromatography. The glucosamine content of the egg shells, determined by the Elson-Morgan colorimetric method, was 7%, corresponding to about 9% chitin. 4. Dried egg shells contained about 7% of lipid, 6% of carbohydrate and 3% of ash. Polyphenols (3% by weight of the egg shells) were detected in the acid hydrolysates. 5. Neither the collagen nor the chitin showed evidence of crystallinity when examined by X-ray diffraction.