Studies on interaction between brinjal mosaic virus and root-knot nematode on brinjal

An experiment on the interaction between brinjal mosaic virus and root-knot nematode on brinjal, revealed that rootknot nematode infected plants had more impact in reducing growth parameters viz., plant height, shoot weight, root length, number of leaves and flowers than brinjal mosaic virus infection; root weight, however, was increased due to heavy galling by the nematodes. Combined infection of both the pathogens considerably lowered the growth parameters compared with control or infection with either pathogen. Simultaneous infection of both pathogens exhibited more severe impact on growth parameters as compared to the single infections indicating synergistic effect on growth of brinjal. Root-knot index, number of galls and root population of the nematode were higher in the treatments with nematode alone or prior to the virus or in simultaneous inoculations of both the pathogens.