Nematicidal effect of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) on the plant-parasitic nematode Meloidogyne javanica

Previous studies have demonstrated that volatile organic compounds (VOCs), produced by the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, were able to inhibit the development of phytopathogenic fungi. In this context, the nematicidal potential of the synthetic mixture of VOCs, constituted of alcohols and esters, was evaluated for the control of the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne javanica, which causes losses to crops of high economic value. The fumigation of substrate containing second-stage juveniles with VOCs exhibited nematicidal effect higher than 30% for the lowest concentration tested (33.3 µL g-1 substrate), whereas at 66.6 and 133.3 µL g-1 substrate, the nematode mortality was 100%. The present results stimulate other studies on VOCs for nematode management.

Meloidogyne javanica control by Pochonia chlamydosporia, Gracilibacillus dipsosauri and soil conditioner in tomato

Organic matter plays a fundamental role in the antagonistic activity of microorganisms against phytonematode populations on the soil. In this study, the compatibility between the fungus Pochonia chlamydosporia (Pc-12) and the rhizobacterium Gracilibacillus dipsosauri (MIC 14) was evaluated in vitro, as well as the effect of the fungus at the concentration of 5,000 chlamydospores per gram of soil, rhizobacterium at 4.65 x 10(9) cells/g of soil, and the soil conditioner Ribumin® at 10 g/pot, either alone or in combination, against Meloidogyne javanica population in tomato plants (3,000 eggs/pot). A suspension of water or Ribumin® alone was applied on the soil as negative control, while a suspension of nematode eggs was applied as positive control. The reduction in the number of galls in roots per plant was 48 and 41% for the treatments Ribumin + MIC 14 + Pc-12 and MIC 14 + Pc-12, respectively. Regarding to the number of eggs per plant, MIC 14 and Pc-12 + Ribumin led to a reduction by 26 and 21%, respectively, compared to the control treatment. Interaction between the nematophagous fungus and the rhizobacterium was positive for the nematode control, even though G. dipsosauri inhibited P. chlamydosporia growth by up to 30% in in vitro tests.

Differential in vitro pathogenicity of predatory fungi of the genus Monacrosporium for phytonematodes, free-living nematodes and parasitic nematodes of cattle

In vitro tests were carried out on the pathogenicity of nine isolates of the predatory fungi of the genus Monacrosporium (5 M. sinense isolates, 3 M. appendiculatum and 1 M. thaumasium isolate) for a phytonematode (second stage juveniles from Meloidogyne incognita, race 3), a free-living nematode (Panagrellus spp), and two gastrointestinal parasitic nematodes of cattle (infective larvae of Cooperia punctata and Haemonchus placei). A suspension containing 2,000 nematodes from each species was added to Petri dishes containing fungi and grown on 2% water-agar medium at 25oC in the dark for up to 7 days. The dishes were examined every other day for 7 days and predation-free nematodes were counted. The results showed that the free-living nematodes, Panagrellus spp, were the most susceptible (P<0.05), followed by the phytonematode M. incognita, while the controls were ³98.5% viable. However, a variable susceptibility of the nematodes to different fungi was observed. This indicates that the use of predatory fungi for the environmental control of nematodes will be limited by the multiplicity of nematodes in the environment and their differential susceptibility to fungal isolates of the same genus.