Plant Nematological Contributions to Phytopathology

The centennial celebration of The American Phytopathological Society (APS) has reminded us of the achievements of plant pathologists over the past century. Each discipline in plant pathology has contributed significantly to the advancements of our science. In 2007, a symposium was held at the APS meeting in San Diego to celebrate more than two and a half centuries of plant nematology since the discovery of plant-parasitic nematodes by Needham in 1743. This article has been produced and synthesized by the organizers and speakers from the symposium. We do not attempt to present another history of plant nematology, since the history has been reviewed extensively by Barker (2,3), Schmitt (84) (Fig. 1), Webster (103), Potter (72), Evans (25), Poinar (71), and recounted thoroughly by our predecessors Chitwood and Chitwood (15,16), Thorne (93), and Viglierchio (99). Rather, we will highlight the contributions of plant nematology to plant pathology by providing a few key examples that cover a wide range of studies in nematology.