Nematology Section, Department of Agricultural Entomology, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai - 625 104, India.
1Department of Nematology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore - 641 003, India
Increasing social awareness on environmental and health concerns associated with the use of synthetic chemicals for nematode management, urged to search an alternative with biosafety for better and economic management of nematodes. Biological management of plant parasitic nema-todes in cultivated crops with potentially useful antagonists in the groups of fungi and bacteria are of current interest for sustainable production of crops. Opportunistic soil fungi are often studied for nematode management in a range of crops at various geographical locations on a variety of nematode taxonomic groups, since they are easy to handle and also efficient colonizer of nematodes and plant roots. Pochonia chlamydosporia Zare et al. (2001) (= Verticillium chlamydosporium), an opportunistic soil fungus, has long been evaluated for nematode management in different countries with a view to identify potential field effective strains. Isolates/strains of this fungus effectively colonize rhizosphere and interact with the nematode developmental process. The rhizosphere colonization, efficacy against plant parasitic nematodes, compatibility with other biocontrol agents, mode of action, mass production and formulation of P. chlamydosporia is reviewed.
