Abstract
Plant-parasitic nematodes are important agricultural pests and often cause serious crop losses. Novel, environmental friendly nematicides are urgently needed because of the harmful effects of some existing nematicides on human health. 5-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA) was reported as a potential biodegradable herbicide, insecticide, or plant-growth promoting agent. Lack of information on ALA against plant-parasitic nematodes prompted this investigation to determine the effects of ALA on Meloidogyne incognita, Heterodera glycines, Pratylenchus coffeae, and Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. A series of in vitro assays and one greenhouse trial were conducted to examine the nematicidal effects of ALA. The results demonstrated that ALA exhibited a strong effect of suppression against the four nematodes tested. ALA also inhibited hatching of M. incognita and H. glycines. Results from the greenhouse experiment indicated that treatment of soil with 6.0 mM ALA significantly reduced the root-gall index (RGI) and egg mass number per root system compared with the uninoculated control (P ≤ 0.05). The metabolism assays indicated that ALA treatment significantly altered the nematode metabolism including the total protein production, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and oxidase activities. This study suggested that ALA is a promising nematicide against plant-parasitic nematodes.
Highlights
Plant-parasitic nematodes are important agricultural pests and often cause serious crop losses
Results from this research partially supported the findings from the previous report that Aminolevulinic acid (ALA) was an effective nematicide against M. incognita, H. glycines, P. coffeae, and B. xylophilus in China (Cheng et al, 2008, 2014)
The LC50 at 48 hr after ALA treatment determined in the current study for M. incognita, H. glycines, and P. coffeae were relatively low but not for B. xylophilus
Summary
Plant-parasitic nematodes are important agricultural pests and often cause serious crop losses. 5-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA) was reported as a potential biodegradable herbicide, insecticide, or plant-growth promoting agent. This study suggested that ALA is a promising nematicide against plant-parasitic nematodes. Preliminary study suggested that application of 3.0 mM of ALA significantly inhibited hatching of M. incognita and H. glycines, and significantly altered the expression levels of superoxide-dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and MDA in second stage juveniles (J2s) of M. incognita (Cheng et al, 2014). It was reported that ALA could be used as a potential biodegradable herbicide, insecticide or plant-growth promoting agent (Sasikala et al, 1994). The objective of this research was to examine the effects of ALA on four economically important plant-parasitic nematodes in China, namely M. incognita, H. glycines, P. coffeae, and B. xylophilus. The effects of ALA on hatching from either free eggs or egg masses/cysts, J2 development, and morphological changes on M. incognita and H. glycines were investigated
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