Effect of time between soil infestation with Pochonia chlamidosporia and planting on the efficacy of the fungus in managing Meloidogyne javanica

Abstract

The fungus Pochonia chlamydosporia acts on populations of the root-knot nematode by parasitizing their eggs before they hatch, preventing the release of juveniles. In this study, the effect of the time at which the fungus is applied to soil infested with the nematode, before transplanting tomato and lettuce seedlings, was evaluated. The reduction of symptoms and the nematode population in the host plant was also evaluated, as well as the fluctuation of the fungus population during the studied period. The seedlings were transplanted at 0, 5, 10, 15 or 20 days after incorporation of the inocula of the fungus and the nematode into the soil. The population of P. chlamydosporia, without the presence of plants, increased and reached its maximum 10 days after its incorporation into the soil. At the end of the experiments, the number of colony forming units (CFU) of the fungus in the soil remained high enough to act on the next cycle of crops. For both cultures, the greatest effect on reducing the number of galls and eggs of Meloidogyne javanica was obtained by increasing the contact time of the fungus with the nematode in the soil before transplanting seedlings. In the second run, for both cultures, there was an increase in shoot weight with increasing of incubation time before the transplantation of seedlings.