Abstract
Inoculation with mycorrhizal fungi and the use of rootstock that is tolerant or resistant to nematodes are two strategies that allow the nematode to be controlled, and plants to coexist with the pathogen. However, the two techniques have always been tested in isolation, when their positive effects are less compared to when they are able to act together. In the present work, two rootstocks combined with the mycorrhizal fungus Rizophagus intraradices were compared, with the aim of evaluating their behaviour on the growth of tomato plants in soils infested with N. aberrans, the false root-knot nematode. The experiment was set up in a completely randomised design with ten replications, in a 3 x 2 x 2 factorial scheme. The treatments consisted of a combination of three factors: a) plant composition: two rootstocks (Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiform ‘Carolina’ and S. lycopersicum ‘Maxifort’), onto which the ‘Santa Clara’ tomato (S. lycopersicum) was grafted, and a non-grafted plant, considered the control, which was the same cultivar as the graft; b) mycorrhization: mycorrhizal or non-mycorrhizal roots; c) a substrate infested or not infested with N. aberrans. The plants grafted onto ‘Maxifort’ showed significantly greater growth for shoot dry weight, root fresh weight and stem diameter. The rootstock under test had a lower pathogen reproductive factor than did the ungrafted plant. Mycorrhization contributed to a reduction in the number of days until flowering, and a reduction in the final population of N. aberrans for the three plant compositions under test.
Highlights
Current knowledge of integrated pest and disease management shows that there is more than one efficient and sustainable tool for controlling such problems
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of two rootstocks and one strain of arbuscular mycorrhizae on tomato plants grown in a substrate, both infested and not infested with N. aberrans
Infestation by N. aberrans contributed to a reduction in root fresh weight in the ungrafted plants and those grafted onto ‘Carolina’
Summary
Current knowledge of integrated pest and disease management shows that there is more than one efficient and sustainable tool for controlling such problems. For Nacobbus aberrans (THORNE, 1935) Thorne & Allen, 1944., known as the false root-knot nematode, this principle can perfectly well be applied, requiring the study of control methods, both individually and together, which would make production possible in infested areas. N. aberrans is a sedentary endoparasitic nematode that causes significant production losses in Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Mexico, and the United States (EUROPEAN AND MEDITERRANEAN PLANT PROTECTION ORGANIZATION, 2018). N. aberrans can parasitise a wide range of hosts, from commercial crops to weeds. Once the pathogen settles in the root, it produces anatomical changes that cause a water deficit of around 40%. This was verified by a reduction in the stomatal conductance and transpiration of infested plants. The fruit is smaller in size, less firm, and deteriorates faster compared to fruit from non-parasitised plants (CRISTÓBAL, 2001)
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