Nematode taxonomy - the drs. P.A.A. Loof Literature and Nematode Collection

From the 1950’s onwards Drs. P.A.A. (Piet) Loof has been one of world-leading experts in this field, and he is the founder of the Wageningen University Nematode and Literature Collection.

For the study of plant parasitic nematodes as well as for the study of nematodes in relation to the environment it is of the utmost importance to know which species of nematodes are involved. The proper identification and name of the nematode is the key to the literature. The Department has invested considerably in the build-up and conservation of the Nematode collection. It consists of over 50.000 slides, with several hundreds of undescribed species, and it is one of the largest collections in the world.

From 1955 onwards Drs. Piet Loof has been active as an eminent nematode taxonomist at the Laboratory for Nematology of Wageningen University. After his formal retirement in 1988, he continued working in our lab for more than two decades, but around 2008 drs. Piet Loof finalized his active career. As a part of his heritage, our lab maintains a nematode taxonomy and systematics literature and slide collection. These are numerous boxes with reprints and hard copies, and the possibilities for interested outsiders to explore this collection were limited.  

To make this literature collection accessible and searchable, the Lab of Nematology decided in close cooperation with Wageningen UR library to digitalize scientific literature from before 1996 (from this year onwards most publishers digitalized their journals). Currently, 3,333 articles have been made online accessible and searchable: a wealth of information on nematode taxonomy and systematics!