Research conducted by the Laboratory of Nematology is part of the research program of the Graduate School Experimental Plant Sciences (EPS) and C.T. de Wit Graduate School for Production Ecology & Resource Conservation (PE&RC).

Nematodes are a serious agricultural pest of increasing importance. As chemical control becomes more restricted, resistant crop cultivars become increasingly important. Several resistances against potato cyst nematodes (Globodera spp.) are available in potato, however in several cases the specific gene responsible is not known. NB-LRR genes are a class of genes often associated with resistance against various pathogens. With the complete potato genome available, all clusters of NB-LRR genes present in potato have been identified and using high throughput-sequencing, the progeny of resistant and susceptible lines are screened for segregating markers.