Does soil warming affect the interaction between Pasteuria penetrans and Meloidogyne javanica in tomato plants?
Lopes, E. A.; Orr, J. N.; Blok, V. C.
Plant Pathology 67(8): 1777-1783
2018
ISSN/ISBN: 0032-0862
DOI: 10.1111/ppa.12877
Accession: 070875246
A system to grow tomato plants infected by Meloidogyne javanica under constant temperatures of 18, 21, 24, 27 and 30 degrees C was developed and used to assess how temperature and the application of the biological control bacterium Pasteuria penetrans affected plant growth, the nematode population and endospore production. Each plant was inoculated with 300second-stage juveniles (J2) with four or five spores of P. penetrans attached to their cuticles or with 300 nematodes without P. penetrans. Increasing soil temperature increased tomato growth, the number of endospores per female, and the number of galls of M. javanica at the end of 38days. Increasing temperatures up to 27 degrees C also increased the number of egg masses produced by M. javanica. Presence of P. penetrans reduced the numbers of galls and egg masses at all temperatures by up to 52.2% and 61.4% at 27 and 30 degrees C, respectively. Pasteuria penetrans reduced the M. javanica population even at soil temperatures of 18 and 21 degrees C. However, temperatures of 27 and 30 degrees C enhanced nematode control and the production of P. penetrans endospores is faster. The system developed inthis work is simple and efficient for growing plants under constant temperatures and can be used for different purposes.