Project Number: 1275-22000-250-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Feb 27, 2007
End Date: Feb 26, 2012

Objective:
Objective 1: Enhance the effectiveness of soil amendments and microbes as management agents for plant-parastic nematodes. Sub-objective 1.A) Improve the efficacy and spectrum of activity of nitrogenous soil amendments and beneficial microbes as plant-parasitic nematode management agents. Sub-objective 1.B) Evaluate ecological interactions among plants, soils, microorganisms and effective management agents to understand and create environments unfavorable to plant-parasitic nematodes. Objective 2: Expand utilization of cover crops as nematode management tools by characterizing nematode-suppressive phytochemicals, and develop plant- and microbe-based nematotoxic products for nematode management. Sub-objective 2.A) Determine the mode of action of rye and other cover crops that produce natural plant compounds suppressive to plant-parasitic nematodes, and develop or improve nematode management systems by maximizing the activity of these compounds. Sub-objective 2.B) Isolate nematotoxic products from plants and microbes and evaluate the products as natural chemical management agents for plant-parasitic nematodes.

Approach:
1A) Greenhouse and field trials will be conducted to improve the usefulness of nitrogenous amendments, such as biosolids, for managing plant-parasitic nematodes. Beneficial microbes, particularly species of Trichoderma and Pseudomonas, will be investigated for activity against nematodes and tested in the greenhouse and field for suppression of nematode populations. 1B) Studies will be conducted at the Farming Systems Project (FSP), Beltsville, MD, in different cropping systems to identify management practices which promote plant-parasitic nematode regulation and lead to development of suppressive soils. Soil nematodes with undetermined feeding habits will be studied to determine primary food sources in their native habitats. 2A) A diverse set of rye cultivars will be evaluated for M. incognita host status and benzoxazinoid content, cultivars will be tested in field trials for effects on nematode populatons on cotton and peanut, and fate of benzoxazinoids in soil will be determined. 2B) To identify nematotoxic activity from plant- and fungal-derived compounds, laboratory assays with root-knot nematodes will be conducted with various compounds, such as clove oil, fungal culture broth, and fescue root extracts. Promising compounds will be further tested in the greenhouse.