Abstract
M.Sc. (Nematology)
The first part of this study deals with the karyology of South African Meloidogyne species. The taxonomic history biology, importance of the genus as a plant pathogen,
control, the morphological characters used in identification of the nematodes, problems occurring during identification and the status of Meloidogyne in South Africa are briefly discussed, followed by a discussion of the main karyologic features of the genus. A description is then given of the method used for preparation of specimens for sitogenetic studies. M. arenaria (Neal, 1889) Chitwood, 1949, M. hapla Chitwood, 1949, M. incognita (Kofoid & White, 1919) Chitwood, 1949, M. javanica (Treub, 1885)
Chitwood, 1949, M. chitwoodi Golden, O'Bannon, Santo & Finley, 1980 and M. partityla Kleynhans, 1986 were studied and the results are shown on photomicrographs and
discussed.
The second part of the study deals with some aspects of the biology of M. partityla. Following a brief review of the history of the pecan nut [Carya illinoensis (Wagenh.) K.
Koch] and M. partityla, a description is given of the material and methods used in the execution of the host reaction tests. The results of the tests are discussed in the text