Soaking faba beans or treating their soil with the bio-agents Abamectin (a fermentation product from Streptomyces avermitilis), a strain of Bacillus thuringiensis, Nemaless (containing strains of Serratia marcescens), and Sincocin-AG were compared to the nematicide Oxamyl and significantly (P £ 0.01 and/or P £ 0.05) reduced the population density of M. incognita with increasing the measured plant growth . On this basis, seed soaking was recommended as an economical, easy and pollution free method for managing M. incognita.

Background: Due to the fact that chemical nematicides frequently cause environmental pollution and toxic hazards to human, plants, and domestic animals, certain biocontrol agents of environmentally and toxicologically safe properties and secure to human and animals were tested against root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita on cowpea. Objective: The protective effect of two isolates of Bacillus subtilis, B. pumilus, or Pseudomonas fluorescens on M. incognita reproductive parameters infecting cowpea was examined, and consequently, plant growth and yield parameters were investigated. The nematicide, Furadan (10% G) was, also, included in this study for comparison. Results: Bacillus subtilis (Bs 2) recorded the highest average total percentage reduction (82%) of M. incognita reproductive parameters followed by B. pumilus Bp 2 (81.8%). Also, Carbofuran 10% recorded the highest average total percentage reduction (76.5%) in terms of numbers of second-stage juveniles (J 2) in plant roots and soil as well as nematode galls and eggmasses compared to the untreated check. The highest total average percentage plant growth increase (99%) was obtained by B. pumilus (Bp1), but B. subtilis (Bs2) and medium recorded 26.3 and 12.8% only, respectively. P. fluorescens (Pf 1) scored the highest yield increase (97%) followed by Pf2 (63.8%). Number of bacterial nodules showed the highest percentage increase (78%) by P. fluorescens (Pf 2). B. pumilus (Bp 1) caused the highest increase of phenolic compound contents followed by P. fluorescens (Pf 1). The nematicide Carbofuran 10% G was the first in increasing soluble protein contents followed by P. fluorescens (Pf 1). Bacillus pumilus (Bp 1) caused the highest total contents of photosynthetic pigments followed by P. fluorescens (Pf 1) and (Pf 2). Conclusions: The tested biocontrol agents could achieve various degrees of M. incognita control on cowpea under screen house conditions with consequent increase in cowpea growth and yield parameters. These bacterial isolates need to be studied under different field conditions for confirmation.

Experiments were conducted under laboratory and greenhouse conditions to investigate the allelopathic activity of aqueous extracts of dry and fresh leaves of Eucalyptus citriodora on purslane weed growth and nematode Meloidogyne incognita infecting sunflower plants cv. Giza 102. A Petri dish biotest showed that the aqueous extracts significantly reduced purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) seedling length, with the degree of inhibition being dependent on the extract concentration. The fresh and dry leaf extracts of E. citriodora standard solution "S" caused the highest net mortality percentage of 100% after 72 hrs of exposure. Greenhouse studies in 2008 and 2009, indicated the greatest significant inhibition in purslane growth as well as the number of galls and egg masses of infecting nematode affected the increase in sunflower growth and yield. The studies indicated increase in the endogenous contents of total phenols in purslane tissues. This increase, correlated with growth inhibition due to treatment with leaf extract of E. citriodora.Chemical analysis indicated an increase in the contents of carbohydrates, protein and oil in sunflower seeds. The analysis of fatty acid composition by Gas Liquid Chromatography (GLC) indicated increases in the percentage of oleic and linoleic acid in sunflower seeds when fresh leaf extract of E. citriodora was used. A high-performance liquid chromatography analysis showed that the following acids; caffeic, ferulic, coumaric, benzoic, vanelic, chlorogenic, and hydroxybenzoic were present in Eucalyptus extracts.

The importance of benign approaches to manage the root-knot nematodes (RKNs, Meloidogyne spp.) in strawberry farms has become more evident with increasing strawberry production and export in Egypt. Therefore, data accumulated on biosolarization and soil amendments to favor beneficial microorganisms and maximize their impact on RKN management are built on a robust historical research foundation and should be exploited. We examined RKN population levels/parameters in three strawberry export governorates, six farms per governorate, to characterize the exact production practices that are responsible for RKN-suppressive soils. All selected farms enjoyed soil biodisinfestation resulting from incorporating organic amendments followed by a plastic cover to suppress soil pathogens. Various safe and inexpensive agricultural practices in the El-Ismailia and El-Beheira governorates were compared to the toxic and expensive fumigants that could eliminate RKNs in the Al-Qalyubia governorate. Two farms at El-Ismailia were of special interest as they ultimately showed almost zero counts of RKNs. The two farms were characterized by incorporating cow manure [containing 0.65% total nitrogen, 21.2 carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio] and poultry manure (0.72% total nitrogen, 20.1 C/N ratio) followed by soil solarization via transparent, 80-µm thick plastic covers for 60–65 summer days as pre-strawberry cultivation practices, and similar covers were used after transplanting. Typically, the longer the pre-plant soil solarization period with thicker transparent plastic covers, the better it could suppress the RKN population densities in the tested farms. Their soils were characterized by relatively high pH and low electrical conductivity. The significant development in biocontrol genera/species abundance and frequency could explain the lower (p < 0.0001) RKN population levels inhabiting the farms of El-Ismailia than the El-Beheira governorate. These factors could provide the first approximation of key practices and factors that could collectively contribute to distinguishing and exploiting soil suppressiveness against RKNs. We discussed edaphic properties and production practices that could modulate populations of natural RKN antagonists for sustainable strawberry cultivation.

Background In the current years, nematotoxic or antagonistic compounds for example, toxins, enzymes, or compounds derived from the metabolites of fungal culture filtrates have greatly increased. Objective This research was designed to evaluate two fungi, Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae, commonly used only as bio-insecticides in Egypt for their nematicidal potential compared to Paecilomyces lilacinus, one of the most important fungi parasitizing on eggs of root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita. Results The tested fungi either as filtrate or spore affected egg hatching and survival of second stage juveniles at different degrees according to fungal filtrate dilution and spore concentration and exposure period under in vitro study. Under screen house conditions, the tested fungi as filtrates or spores were used to control root-knot nematode on cowpea. The overtopped significant results were gained with P. lilacinus filtrate at standard dilution and recorded the highest mean overall percentages nematode reduction (84.5%). The second rank was obtained by B. bassiana culture filtrate, where it significantly reduced all nematode numbers with a mean of 81.1% at standard dilution. M. anisopliae caused 78.5% as a mean percentages nematode reduction followed by other dilutions and untreated check. When using spore concentrations, the overtopped significant results were gained with P. lilacinus at the highest spore concentration (1 × 108) and recorded the highest mean percentages nematode reduction (85.3%). The second rank was obtained by M. anisopliae, where it reduced all nematode numbers as an average of 83.6%. B. bassiana caused 77.1% as a mean percentages nematode reduction at the highest spore concentration. At all cases, all treatments significantly promoted plant growth and yield criteria and these increases were positively proportional to the filtrate dilution or spore concentration higher than the untreated plants. Conclusions It can be concluded that B. bassiana, M. Anisopliae, and P. lilacinus as antagonistic fungi proved to be efficient against root-knot nematode, incognita infecting cowpea as they reduced nematode criteria which subsequently improved plant growth and yield of cowpea.