Early nematode development and subcellular responses in resistant soybean lines PI 88788 and PI 437654 infected with races 3 (R3) and 14 (R14) of soybean cyst nematode (SCN), Heterodera glycines Ichinohe, were compared. SCN R14 nematodes penetrated and developed significantly more than R3 at 5-6 days after inoculation. Both races also penetrated and developed more in PI 88788 than in PI 437654. Syncytia, characterized by cell wall dissolution and cellular hypertrophy, were developed more in PI 88788 than in PI 437654 and more by R14 than R3, for which less necrotic responses occurred in the former than the latter. This suggests that the latter two may be more resistant and less virulent than the former two, respectively. A common structural feature found in each of PI 437654 and PI 88788 in relation to SCN-resistance was the formation of prominent cell wall appositions and nuclear degeneration prior to cytoplasmic degradation in syncytial cells, respectively. Necrosis and cell wall apposition are types of hypersensitive responses occurring at early stages of the nematode infection so that these structural modifications indicate the inhibition of initial syncytial development related to the early nematode development. As soybean cultivars and lines with identical or similar genotypes have the same types of structural features related to SCN-resistance, the structural modifications induced by SCN infection may result from the expression of inheritable resistance genes, of which the information can be used for breeding soybean cultivars and lines specifically resistant to SCN races.