Effect of an Alltech soil health product on entomopathogenic nematodes, root-knot nematodes and on the growth of tomato plants in the greenhouse.

Anusha Pulavarty,Thomais Kakouli-Duarte,Karina Horgan

doi:10.21307/jofnem-2020-014

Anusha Pulavarty, Thomais Kakouli-Duarte + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.21307/jofnem-2020-014

Copy DOI

Abstract

An organic product that consists of proprietary blend of fermentation and plant extracts with micronutrients (ACS 5075, Alltech®, Inc., Nicholasville, KY USA) was evaluated against four strains of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN): Steinernema feltiae (SB12(1), a wild enviroCORE strain and a commercial form e-NEMA), Steinernema carpocapsae (e-NEMA), and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora. The effects on egg hatching and survival of root-knot nematodes (RKN) were also examined. The sensitivity to the product was tested by estimating mortality and survival of EPN infective juveniles (IJ) after 24-hr treatment with four different concentrations of product (4, 7, 8, and 10%) compared with the control in a 96-well plate. There was no significant difference in survival of IJ with 4% product compared to the control. A twofold reduction in survival was observed when the EPN were exposed to the product at 7%. A 10.5% RKN egg hatching was observed when RKN were exposed to 3% ACS 5075 concentration compared to 100% hatching in the untreated. A significant (p < 0.05) reduction in juvenile survival was observed at 0.5% treatment, however, it dropped to 0 when 1% and above was used for M. javanica. Juveniles did not survive with all treatment concentrations in the case of M. incognita. The improvement in tomato plant growth and development were also observed when plants were treated with 1 and 3% ACS 5075. The product shows potential as a sustainable soil health alternative causing no harm to beneficial nematodes (EPN) at concentrations below 4%, while is promising against plant parasitic nematodes (PPN) and toward plant growth promotion.

Highlights

In the context of food security for an ever increasing global population, nematodes pose serious threat to agricultural crops worldwide (Miamoto et al, 2017)
The use of organic amendments has positively suppressed the levels of nematodes in the soil, and has resulted in increased levels of nematode trapping fungi or other potential predators or parasites of plant parasitic nematodes (PPN) in the same soil (Akhtar and Malik, 2000; Wang et al, 2001; Oka, 2010)
Four entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) strains of the family Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae were cultured, maintained, and stored at 9°C in the enviroCORE laboratory facilities, Institute of Technology Carlow, Ireland

Summary

Introduction

In the context of food security for an ever increasing global population, nematodes pose serious threat to agricultural crops worldwide (Miamoto et al, 2017). There are nearly 4,100 species of plant parasitic nematodes (PPN) reported to date that are currently a serious constraint for global food security (Jaouannet et al, 2013) causing yield loss of about 30% in susceptible crop varieties annually (tomatoes, eggplant, and melons) (Padgham et al., 2004; Collange et al, 2011) Among these root-knot nematodes (RKN) are widely spread and highly damaging (Zakaria et al, 2013). Unfavorable climatic conditions can make the applied nematicide ineffective against nematodes Multiple management strategies such as use of organic amendments, soil solarization, and nematicide application were adopted to protect tomato plants against the Meloidogyne species (Terefe et al, 2009). Thorough research is essential to study the long- and short-term effects of any amendments to both groups of nematodes prior to application

Methods

Results

Conclusion