Abstract
As a severe danger to potato plants, potato cyst nematodes (PCNs) are regulated quarantine pests in many countries. Adhering soils to potato or other tuber crops provoke the uncontrolled spread of the pest after their industrial processing. The disinfection of soil tares to inactivate PCNs is therefore compulsory. In the present study, we test whether the viability and formation of PCN cysts are suppressed after treatment with γ and β irradiation. In a first experiment, nematode cysts were treated with γ or β irradiation without soil matrix to determine the minimum dose parameters in a range between 0–12 kGy. Subsequently, two representative soils that included cysts were irradiated. Irradiation effects on PCN viability and the formation of new cysts were evaluated via hatching tests and bioassays with susceptible potato plants, respectively. In addition, maize seedling growth was tested in irradiated soil tares. We found that next to γ also, β irradiation suppressed the hatch of PCN juveniles and its formation of cysts when placed in soil tares. The growth of maize seedlings was not impaired in irradiated soils compared to control soils. Both γ and β irradiation treatment offer an organism group selective and effective phytosanitary measures to disinfect soil tares from PCNs.
Highlights
The potato cyst nematodes (PCNs) Globodera pallida (Stone, 1973) and G. rostochiensis (Wollenweber, 1923) are severe pests, mainly in potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.), and in other solanaceous species (EPPO 2017) [1,2]
The viability of the cysts that were directly exposed to γ or β irradiation doses of 4 kGy and above were sufficiently inactivated in both species, G. pallida and G. rostochiensis were compared to the respective non-treated controls (Figure 1) (Wilcoxon post hoc test, p < 0.05)
The γ irradiation treatment at a low level of 1 kGy slightly increased the hatch of G. rostochiensis juveniles by 10% compared to their respective control cysts (Figure 1b), while the hatching of G. pallida in the 1 kGy level was not different from the control (Figure 1a)
Summary
The potato cyst nematodes (PCNs) Globodera pallida (Stone, 1973) and G. rostochiensis (Wollenweber, 1923) are severe pests, mainly in potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.), and in other solanaceous species (EPPO 2017) [1,2]. The breeding of resistant potato cultivars is a major strategy to eradicate the pest in infested field sites [7]. New Globodera spp. populations with high virulence breaking all known resistances in potato cultivars can emerge at any time and cause severe damage [8]. Plant health control regulations were already established to diminish the risk from spreading cysts via planting potato material [9]. Soil tares adhering to harvested potatoes or other tuber crops are still an unpredictable source of nematode cysts. Uncontrolled returns of pooled and non-disinfected soil tares to arable land may dramatically increase the risk of PCN spread. On the other hand, increasing the amount of soil tares that are not reused would result in a dramatic constant loss of arable land
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