Pochonia chlamydosporia var. chlamydosporia (Goddard) Zare & W. Gams for the management of lettuce infected with Meloidogyne javanica (Treub, 1885)

Abstract

The application of the nematophagous fungus Pochonia chlamydosporia var. chlamydosporia (Goddard) Zare & W. Gams during seedling production of vegetable crops can be an efficient approach to control root-knot nematode. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of treating seedlings and/or soil with bionematicide (wettable powder formulation) based on chlamydospores from isolate Pc-10 on the Meloidogyne javanica (Treub, 1885) control in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.). Isolate Pc-10 was diluted in water and applied when watering the seedlings (0, 4.5, 9.0, 13.5, and 18.0 g L-1) and/or to the potted soil (5000 chlamydospores g-1) used for growing lettuce. The soil in each pot was infested with 3000 M. javanica eggs. The number of M. javanica eggs was reduced in lettuce roots when isolate Pc-10 was applied either to seedlings or soil; there was no interaction between application methods. The decrease in the number of eggs was proportional to the increase of isolate Pc-10 applied to seedlings with maximum reduction of 43.5% at the 18 g L-1 dose. When the fungus was applied to the soil, the number of eggs was reduced by 12.3%. Increasing doses of isolate Pc-10 reduced the number of galls up to 21% with the 18 g L-1 dose. Applying bionematicide based on P. chlamydosporia isolate Pc-10 at 18 g L-1 on seedlings controls M. javanica in lettuce.