Biomanagement of Nematodes Infesting Banana by Bacterial Endophytes (Bacillus subtilis)
Abstract
A pot culture study was conducted to assess the biocontrol potential of endophytic bacterial isolates of Bacilus subtilis (EPB 5, 22, 31 and EPC 16) prepared in talc-base against the nematodes of banana viz., root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita; lesion nematode, Pratylenchus coffeae; burrowing nematode, Radopholus similis and spiral nematode, Helicotylenchus multicinctus on tissue cultured banana cv. Robusta (Musa AAA). Significant increase in shoot height and weight, root length and weight, pseudostem girth and number of leaves coupled with reduction in nematode population was observed in the combined treatment of EPB 5 + 31. The treatment also enhanced the activity of defense enzymes responsible for induction of systemic resistance such as peroxidase, polyphenol oxidase and phenylalanine ammonia lyase.
Keywords
Endophytic bacteria, Meloidogyne incognita, Pratylenchus coffeae, Radopholus similis, Helicotylenchus multicinctus, banana
