CPT 504 – APPLIED NEMATOLOGY LECTURE NOTE

Prof. S. O. Afolami and Dr. I. S. Odeyemi

Nematodes are small worm-like organisms which are present in almost all

agroecosystems where they interact directly and indirectly with plants and other

microfauna, regulating decomposition and release of nutrients to the plants. Nematodes

are ubiquitous and have diverse feeding behaviors and life strategies ranging from

colonizers to persistors. Due to their diversity in biological and particularly feeding

habits, nematodes are an integral part of the food webs in soil ecosystems. In almost

every soil sample, nematodes from five trophic levels namely bacteriovores, fungivores,

herbivores, predators and omnivores are usually represented. Phytophagous nematodes

(Herbivores) are the most intensively studied group because of their economic

importance as biotic constraints to crop production. However, as the role of soil

nematodes in regulating soil bacterial and fungal populations and thus cycling of major

soil nutrients becomes clear, a more positive view of nematodes is becoming established.

Role of Nematodes in Soil Health

Direct contribution to nitrogen mineralization and distribution of biomass within plants.

The itrogen is available in the ammonium form when bacterivorous and fungivorous

nematodes are present than when they are absent. Nitrogen mineralized through microbial

grazing is available subsequently to plants. Under field conditions, bacterivorous and

predatory nematodes are estimated to contribute (directly and indirectly) about 8% to

19% of nitrogen mineralization in conventional and integrated farming systems,

respectively. Nematodes contribute to nitrogen mineralization indirectly by grazing on

decomposer microbes, excreting ammonium, and immobilizing nitrogen in live biomass.

microbialgrazing nematodes.

Uses of Nematodes as Indicators

 Nematodes have a permeable cuticle, which allows them to respond with a range

of reactions to pollutants and correspond with the restorative capacity of soil

ecosystems.

 Some nematodes have resistant stages such as cryptobiosis or cysts that allow

them to survive inactively during environmental conditions unfavorable to growth

and(or) development. However, some nematode taxa such as Dorylaimidae have

no resistant stages, which may make them more sensitive to environmental

change.

 Since the 1970s, nematodes have been used as environmental biomonitors for

aquatic systems. For example, Panagrellus redivivus has been used as a

biomonitor to detect toxin concentrations that affect molting and organism size.

PRINCIPLES OF NEMATODE CONTROL

Avoidance: This involves choosing or selecting a site with very low or zero inoculum.

Exclusion: This principle tends to limit the spread of nematode pathogen from on place

to another. This is aimed at reducing initial inoculum of the nematodes.

Suppression of nematode reproduction: This involves the use of resistant varieties and

supplemental chemical nematicide.

METHODS OF NEMATODE PEST MANAGEMENT

Physical Method: This involves the use of heat either in form of sterilization or

solarization.
Chemical method: This involves the use of nematicides

Cultural methods: This includes – Good site selection, Farm sanitation and hygiene,

Ploughing, Use of trap crops, Crop rotation, Soil amendments, Flooding etc.

Resistance : Resistant cultivars offers the most effective and economic control of plant-

parasitic nematodes. The use of crops resistant to the most destructive pathogenic

nematodes remains an attractive, effective and economical management strategy for

minimizing crop losses

Biological control: Biological control can be defined as the direct accurate management

of common components of the ecosystems to protect crops against pathogens. In this

regard, microbial diversity is a key natural resource. Biological control preserves

environmental quality by reduction in chemical inputs. It is thus characteristic of

sustainable management practices. Biological control involves the use of biological

agents such as parasites, predators, phytophagous insects, pathogenic microbes and

competing species to suppress and repulse pest species.

A large number of biocontrol agents have been tested to control plant-parasitic

nematodes with encouraging results. These include bacteria, such as, Burkholdera

cepacia, Pasteuria penetrans, Pseudomonas florecens. Fungi like Verticillium

chlamydosporium, Paecilomyces lilacinus, Gliocladium spp., Trichoderma spp,

Athrobotrys oligospora have also been used. Similarly, predatory nematodes and

entomopathogenic nematodes have been reported to control root – knot nematodes and

other nematodes such as Steinernema carpocapsae and Mononchus acquaticus.

Nematode trapping fungi utilise either sticky pads or constricting rings to immobilise

nematodes. The fungus then digests the internal organs of the nematode and form
reproductive cells. The main fungi in this group are Arthrobotrys and Duddingtonia.

These fungi are found in soil where they live on readily-available organic carbon, in the

absence of nematodes. They are generalist feeders, being able to trap and digest many

nematodes, not just those that infest plants. Thus, the fungi are rare, unable to exist at

sufficiently high densities to control nematode populations, and parasitic on beneficial as

well as pest species of nematode. Because of these difficulties, exploration of the use of

trapping fungi in the field has largely ceased, though see below for a case study of animal

pests and Duddingtonia.

Parasitic fungi have been isolated from eggs, larvae or adults nematodes. Several of

these have been found to preferentially parasitise the nematode and thereby reduce the

size of the nematode population. Research efforts in some crops are now concentrating on

using fungi found locally to control local pests. The general approach is to go to locations

where nematodes have reached high densities. Parasitised individuals are extracted from

soil, the fungi cultured and then tested as parasites of the pest nematode. The theoretical

basis for this approach is that high densities of nematode will enable fungal parasites to

increase population size dramatically. Thus by selecting fungi adapted to the host

(nematode) and environment, inundative inoculation will control the pest nematode.

Biocontrol in problem fields has been achieved in a surprising number of cases. The

species used include Paecilomyces lilacinus, a fungus that appears to have a wide range

of potential hosts, both insect and nematode, and yet isolates have a degree of specificity

for host.
HOST PARASITE INTERACTION

This is based on crop yield, reproduction of the nematode on the host and crop damage in

terms of gall index. The status of the host could be:

Resistant: is considered as the ability of the host plant to prevent the entry,

establishement and reproduction of the pathogen.

Tolerant: The ability of the host plant to accommodate the nematode, cause considearale

damage on the host but the yield not significantly affected.

Susceptible: is considered as the ability of the host plant to allow the entry,

establishement and reproduction of the pathogen. A significant yield loss is attributable to

the nematode.

Hypersusceptible: The host plant thus not allow the nematode to reproduce but the

initial population establishes on the host to cause considerable yield loss.

Host plant resistance will also be related to mechanism of resistance.