INFLUENCE OF ROOT-KNOT NEMATODE ON BACTERIAL WILT SEVERITY IN TOMATO

Abstract

Wilt susceptible tomato plants grown in both soils infested with Pseudomonas solanacearum and P. solanacearum - Meloidogyne incognita combination started to die of wilt one week after transplanting; all plants died of wilt one week earlier in the latter than in the former. With resistant cultivars, wilted (dead) plants in soils infested with both the bacterium and the nematode occurred one to four weeks earlier than those plants grown in the bacterium-infested soil alone. Yields of wilt resistant cultivars grown in soils infested with the bacterium-nematode combination were lower (13%) than those plants grown in soils infested with the bacterium alone (23%). None of the plants inoculated or grown in naturally or artificially nematode-infested soil alone died of wilt after the experiment.