Solanum sisymbriifolium - a new approach for the management of plant-parasitic nematodes

Plant-parasitic nematodes are serious pests causing important crop losses worldwide. After extensive screening of non-tuber-bearing Solanaceae, a resistant trap crop, Solanum sisymbriifolium, with a high production level of hatching agents, seemed an ideal control method for potato cyst nematodes (PCN), Globodera spp. Recently, root-knot nematodes (RKN), Meloidogyne spp., were found coexisting with PCN. Therefore, it is important to find alternative methods to control both nematode genera. The chemical properties of S. sisymbriifolium turns this plant into an excellent candidate for further nematicidal studies and to develop new crop production models. Studies concerning the effects of this plant on plant-parasitic nematodes are presented. Pathogenicity studies with four S. sisymbriifolium cvs (Domino, Pion, Sis 4004 and Sharp) and five Meloidogyne species showed that all cultivars of S. sisymbriifolium studied were resistant to M. chitwoodi and hypersusceptible to M. arenaria and M. hapla. For M. hispanica only cv Pion was susceptible. M. javanica induced different responses: cvs Pion and Sharp were susceptible; cv Domino resistant and Sis 4004 hypersusceptible. The studies of the hatching effects of root exudates from these cvs showed that they had an influence on the hatching inhibition of second stage juveniles of the five Meloidogyne species tested.