Seedling growth of nine white clover cultivars after invasion by clover nematodes

Abstract

Seedlings of nine white clover cultivars were grown in seed trays containing a field soil to compare growth effects in the presence and absence of clover cyst and root-knot nematodes. Freezing of soil prior to planting was used to eliminate plant-parasitic nematodes. The cultivar Prop contained about half the number of root-knot nematodes as two other small-leafed cultivars after 2 and 4 weeks growth but numbers of cyst nematodes were similar in the three cultivars. Seedling growth of Prop was least affected among nine cultivars by the presence of nematodes 9 weeks after planting. Partial resistance to one nematode species may therefore confer establishment advantages to clover where infestations include other clover feeding nematode species.