A comparison of two methods of synchronous inoculation of cotton seedlings with Meloidogyne incognita.

Several methods of inoculating host tion towels are superimposed, moistened plants with larvae of Meloidogyne incognita Chitwood have been developed. Chapman and Eason (1) enumerated desirable criteria for inoculating plants with endoparasitic nematodes. They introduced the use of Miracloth® to maintain moisture and provide a support medium for nematode penetration. McClure and Robertson (4) developed an inoculation method that provided uniformly invaded roots of comparable age and pathological development. The i r technique utilized observation boxes, described by Minton (3), and incorporated two superimposed strips of Miracloth between which the cotton-root tips are inserted and upon which the inoculum is placed. By controlling the time and temperature of incubation and the width of the Miracloth strip, they accurately controlled the period of inoculation and thereby allowed synchrony in pathological development. The i r method works well, but if used in large experiments it is timeconsuming and expensive. We report a "ragdoll" method of inoculation applicable to screening plants for resistance to Meloidogyne spp. and for obtaining large quantities of uniformly inoculated root segments for physiological studies. T h e ragdoll is constructed with two sheets of commercial seed-germination towel (30 x 45 cm), a half sheet of similarly sized waxed paper (23 x 30 cm), and two strips of Miracloth (2 x 45 cm). T h e germina-