Suppression of Meloidogyne incognita in Lettuce and Oriental Melon by Pasteuria penetrans KW1

Abstract

Pasteuria penetrans KW1 (PP), parasitic bacterium of nematode, was isolated from oriental melon greenhouse soil in Korea and evaluated for the suppression effect on the reproduction of southern root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita (MI), in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. Chungchima) and oriental melon (Cucumis melo L. var. Eunchun). Pot experiments were conducted by planting the lettuce seedlings in medium inoculated with 5,000 MI juveniles/pot (J), J +100,000 PP endospores/l g medium, and J +200,000 PP endospores/1 g medium. After 11 weeks of plantation, number of root galls in J +200,000 PP endospores/1 g medium was decreased to 92/root (38.9%, control effect), compared to the J of 150/root. In the second plantation of lettuce in the same pots, the numbers of root gall were significantly decreased in PP treated pots with 75 (77.2%, control effect) and 150/root (54.4%, control effect) in J +200,000 and J +100,000 PP endospores/1 g medium, respectively, compared to the J of 330/root when harvested at 10 weeks after planting. In oriental melon, root gall percentages were 32.1 (60.2%, control effect) and 52.9％ (34.5%, control effect) in J +200,000 and J + 1(10,000 endospores/l g medium which were significantly lower than that of 80.7％ in J.