Abstract
Cowpea, Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp, is a very important Fabaceae in the diet of families in the northeast region of Brazil. This plant species is among the different cultures affected by the root-knot nematode. In this region, in addition to phytonematodes, another condition that affects cowpea productivity is salinity, one of the main abiotic limiting factors. The cultivar Pitiúba, however, has good adaptability to salt stress conditions. However, information on the behavior of root-knot nematodes in an environment with high levels of salinity for this crop is still scarce. Based on the above, the objective of this work was: 1) to evaluate the hatchability of J2 of Meloidogyne enterolobii in 100mM NaCl solution; 2) evaluate the motility and infectivity of J2 of M. enterolobii in saline solution at the levels of 0, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 300, and 400mM; 3) to investigate the impairment of the development of M. enterolobii in cowpea Pitiúba under irrigation with NaCl solution at 100mM. It was found that J2 hatching, motility, and infectivity of juveniles of M. enterolobii were not affected by the levels of salinity tested in vitro. In Pitiúba, irrigation with 100 mM saline solution considerably affected the development of juveniles of the pathogen in the roots.
Highlights
Salinity is a limiting factor for plant development, due to decreased productivity in several agronomic crops decreasing the rate of absorption by the root system, with changes in the assimilation and transport of water and nutrients in the plant, producing disturbances at the physiological and physical level in plants (Sá et al, 2018; Souza et al, 2019)
To evaluate the interaction between saline stress and M. enterolobii parasitism in cowpea, the cultivar Pitiúba launched by Federal University of Ceará (UFC) was selected, which stands out for its good agronomic characteristics and for having good adaptability to salt stress conditions (Paiva et al, 2014)
To evaluate the in vitro effect of salinity on the hatching of juveniles of M. enterolobii, 50 eggs of the phytonematode were added in 3 mL of a solution with 100 mM NaCl, distributed in Petri dishes of 3 cm in diameter
Summary
Salinity is a limiting factor for plant development, due to decreased productivity in several agronomic crops decreasing the rate of absorption by the root system, with changes in the assimilation and transport of water and nutrients in the plant, producing disturbances at the physiological and physical level in plants (Sá et al, 2018; Souza et al, 2019). Salinization is a process that occurs in poorly managed soils, usually with poor drainage conditions, indiscriminate use of fertilizers, low-quality water used for irrigation, or natural causes due to the weathering of rocks, which have high levels of soluble salts (Aderaldo et al, 2020; Araújo et al, 2019). The high concentration of salts in the soil solution occurs mainly in arid and semi-arid regions in the world (Oliveira et al, 2015; Etikala et al, 2021). In Brazil, in the northeast region, the occurrence of salinity problems in soils is commonly reported, mainly due to the use of low-quality water, with the accumulation of Na+ and Cl- ions, in irrigation (Ribeiro et al, 2016; Vasconcelos et al, 2013)
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