Nemarioc-AL and Nemafric-BL phytonematicides consistently reduced populations of plantparasitic nematodes. The contribution of juvenile hatch inhibition to the overall reduction of the nematode numbers by the two phytonematicides, with cucurbitacin A and B as active ingredients, respectively, remains undocumented. The objectives of this study were to examine (i) the response of Meloidogyne incognita second-stage juveniles (J2) hatch to increasing concentration of cucurbitacins A and B, (ii) the potential saturation of J2 hatch when exposed to cucurbitacins for extended incubation periods, (iii) the minimum inhibition concentration for J2 hatch and (iv) the reversibility of J2 hatch inhibition.. Eggs of M. incognita were exposed to a series of purified cucurbitacin A and B concentrations over five incubation periods of 24, 48, 72 h and extended incubation periods of 7 and 10 days. Methanol-dissolved cucurbitacin A and B were each diluted and pipetted into well-plates making 11 concentrations, ranging from 0.0 to 2.5 µg.ml −1 water solvent. Juvenile counts were made after 24, 48 and 72 h, with those for saturation assessed at 7 and 10 days. Thereafter, treatments were diluted five times, incubated again for 5 days and counted to establish reversibility of J2 hatch inhibition. In all incubation periods, treatment effects were highly significant (P ≤ 0.01), with J2 hatch and cucurbitacin concentrations exhibiting quadratic relations. Minimum inhibition concentrations of the two cucurbitacins were between 1.13 and 1.40 µg.ml −1 . Treatment effects for reversibility to J2 hatch inhibition were not significant (P > 0.05). In conclusion, J2 hatch inhibition could be one of the waysthrough which the two phytonematicides reduced population densities of Meloidogyne species.
ARTICLE HISTORY
The nematicidal activity of crudely milled powders of stems, leaves, and bulbs of
Cassia abbreviata
,
Cissus cactiformis
,
Euphorbia ingens
,
Ipomoea kituiensis, Synadenium cupulare
,
Senna petersiana
,
Urigenia sanguinea
,
Maerua angolensis
, and
Tabernaemontana elegans
on eggs and J2 population densities of
Meloidogyne incognita
race 2 on tomato was examined under glasshouse conditions. These plant species have medicinal properties and are being used in South Africa by traditional healers as so-called “muti.” All plant species showed a suppressive effect. Relative to untreated control, the soil amendments consistently suppressed
M. incognita
population densities in tomato roots and the reproductive potential (RP) of the nematode. When compared to fenamiphos, a commercial systemic chemical nematicide, the soil amendments performed comparable or better in suppressing nematode populations in the root systems in 2008 and 2009, but fenamiphos performed better than all soil amendments in 2011. The RP of
M. incognita
was comparable for both soil amendment- and fenamiphos-treated plants. No consistent trend in the effect of the soil amendments on plant root and shoot bioweight was observed, except when plants were treated with
T. elegans
-based soil amendments and both root and shoot bioweight were consistently higher compared with untreated control plants. Our results show that the plant species examined are potential sources of phytonematicides effective against
M. incognita
race 2.
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