Root enzyme activities associated with resistance to Heterodera avenae conferred by gene Cre7 in a wheat/Aegilops triuncialis introgression line

The effect of Cereal cyst nematode (Heterodera avenae) infection on the expression of putative root defence-related enzymes, peroxidase (PER), esterase (EST) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), was studied in roots of a wheat/Aegilops triuncialis introgression line TR-3531 carrying the Cre7 resistance gene. We analysed detoxificant isozyme changes within roots of the resistant line and their susceptible parent (H-10-15) as a control, during the early interaction with the pathotype Ha71 of H. avenae. Isoelectrofocusing (IEF) isozyme analysis, four and seven days after infection, revealed that PER, EST and SOD activities increased in the resistant line TR-3531 in comparison with the susceptible control. Moreover, four and seven days after infection, the TR-3531 line showed the expression of new PER isozymes, with pIs of 9.7, 9.0, 8.5, 6.5 and 5.0, and an increased activity of some constitutive isoforms. The intensity of some EST and SOD constitutive bands increased in the resistant line after infection. However, no new isoforms were detected for EST and SOD systems. Nematode-induced enzyme activity was minor (PER) or did not occur (EST and SOD) in the compatible interaction with H-10-15. The enhanced peroxidase and esterase activities may play a role in the lignification of cell walls, which assists in the resistance to penetration by the nematode.     

The effect of manganese deficiency and cereal cyst nematode infection on the growth of barley

Summary Two factorial pot experiments, each with four rates of soil-applied manganese (Mn), four levels of cereal cyst nematodes (CCN) and four replicates, were conducted under controlled environmental conditions to investigate the interaction of these factors on growth of barley. The experiments were harvested sequentially to count numbers of nematodes at two developmental stages. Development of the nematodes was independent of the Mn status of the host, indicating no effect of Mn on host resistance. In the absence of CCN, decreased Mn had a small effect on vegetative growth, not significantly decreasing dry weight of tops but tolerance at the higher densities of CCN was considerably reduced at low Mn supply, both vegetative growth and grain yield being depressed. Increasing CCN density exerted little effect on the growth of Mn sufficient hosts. Two field surveys supported conclusions from the pot experiments in that increasing nematode densities were correlated with decreasing plant size only at the site where plants were low in Mn. An implication for the field is that crops infected with the nematode and also low in Mn may yield less than expected because the two factors interact to reduce growth and retard development.     

Improved Methods of Hatching Heterodera schachtii Larvae for Screening Chemicals

The rate of hatching of Heterodera schachtii larvae was greatly increased by placing cysts in sieves enclosed by small disposable cups. An apparatus that permitted rapid storage of second-stage larvae at 10 C prolonged the viability of the larvae.     

Influence of Heterodera avenae on winter wheat in France: experiments with resistant and susceptible varieties

A succession of oat crops resistant or susceptible to Heterodera avenue produced plots lightly or moderately infested with the pest with little risk of interaction with other soil pathogens in succeeding cereal crops. Using these plots, the effects of the nematode on growth and yield of winter wheat were studied. The nematode affected the crop throughout its development, with a marked effect on yield. The effects of H. avenue are similar to those of water stress and are accentuated to a greater or lesser extent by climatic conditions. In the field the efficacy and durability of resistant genes incorporated in wheat and oats were checked. After four-years' cultivation of oats (cv. Panema), no resistance-breaking pathotypes were detected. Some advanced wheat lines with nematode resistance were also tolerant of nematode attack.     

A cereal cyst nematode (Heterodera avenae Woll.) resistance gene transferred from Aegilops triuncialis to hexaploid wheat

 The cereal cyst nematode (Heterodera avenae) is an important root parasite of common wheat. A high level of resistance was transferred to wheat from Aegilops triuncialis (TR lines) using the cross [(T. turgidum×Ae. triuncialis)×T. aestivum]. Low fertility (3–5 viable kernels per plant) was observed during the process but the surviving hybrid plants were highly vigorous. To obtain stable resistant lines further crosses to T. aestivum were performed. The resistance in TR lines seems to be transferred from the C genome of Ae. triuncialis (genomes CCUU). Ae. triuncialis was highly resistant to the two Spanish populations of H. avenae tested, as well as to four French races and two Swedish populations. The histological analysis showed a hypersensitive reaction in the roots of a resistant TR line inoculated with the Ha71 pathotype of H. avenae, whereas well-formed syncytia were observed in the roots of the susceptible control. Resistance to the H. avenae Ha71 pathotype seemed to be inherited as determined by a single dominant factor in the crosses between resistant TR lines and susceptible cultivars. Received: 11 November 1997 / Accepted: 9 December 1997     

Influence of Planting Date on Damage to Soybean Caused by Heterodera glycines

Bragg soybeans were planted in nematicide-treated and nontreated plots on 15 May, 15 June, 1 July, and 15 July in 1980 and 1981 to determine the influence of planting date on damage caused by H. glycines. Although earlier studies showed the nematode was sensitive to high soil temperatures (> 34 C), late planting did not reduce damage caused by the nematode. Yields from plots treated with 1, 2-dibromo-3-chloropropane (57.5 kg a.i./ha) were 48, 118, 395, and 403% higher than yields from nontreated plots with planting dates of 15 May, 15 June, 1 July, and 15 July, respectively, when data were averaged over the 2 years. Increase in both seed size and number accounted for the yield increases in treated plots. Soil temperatures were highest during July in 1980, averaging 8.9 and 6.5 hours per day above 34 C at 10- and 20-cm depths, respectively. Larvae populations of H. glycines were reduced by the nematicide but not by late planting. These results indicate that damage caused by H. glycines may actually increase with later planting and that nematicides may be more beneficial when soybeans are planted late in a double-cropped production system.     

Polyploidy in an Amphimictic Population of Heterodera glycines

A tetraploid single-cyst isolate of Heterodera glycines from a field population from Indiana has been propagated in the greenhouse on Lee soybeans since its discovery, in 1973. The tetraploid isolate has n = 18 chromosomes, compared with n = 9 of the diploid H. glycines; it has larger cysts and larvae, but shows the same level of parasitism and host range as the diploid population from which it apparently evolved. Association of chromosomes is irregular at metaphase I, with quadrivalents, trivalents, and univalents often observed in addition to the bivalents. The second maturation division is usually normal. About 80% of the mature oocytes (just before fertilization) have n = 18, and the other 20% have n = 17 or 19. Reproduction of the tetraploid isolate is exclusively by cross-fertilization. The discovery of such a tetraploid provides an experimental tool for the study of polyploidy in nematodes. Many amphimictic plant-parasitic nematodes are suspected of representing polyploids.     

Effect of Phenamiphos on Heterodera schachtii and Meloidogyne javanica

Aqueous solutions of technical-grade phenamiphos [ethyl 3-methyl-4-(methylthio) phenyl (1-methylethyl) phosphoratnidale] were used in hatching chambers to test, under laboratory tory conditions, the effect of phenamiphos on the hatching and movement of Meloiclogyne javanica and Heterodera schachtii. Hatch of M. javanica and H. schachtii eggs was depressed 70 and 88% by nematicide at 0.48 and 4.80 μg/ml, respectively. The infectivity of second-stage larvae of both species was affected by concentrations as low as 0.01 μg/ml. At least 0.5 μg/ml was required to decrease the movement of larvae of M. javanica and H. schachtii. To decrease the movement of H. schachtii males toward females, 10 μg/ml was required. In a field experiment using a 15% granular formulation, 5 kg/ha a.i. significantly reduced infection of sugarbeet roots by H. schachtii.     

Site-Specific Management of Nematodes Pitfalls and Practicalities

The greatest constraint to potato production in the United Kingdom (UK) is damage by the potato cyst nematodes (PCN) Globodera pallida and G. rostochiensis. Management of PCN depends heavily on nematicides, which are costly. Of all the inputs in UK agriculture, nematicides offer the largest potential cost savings from spatially variable application, and these savings would be accompanied by environmental benefits. We mapped PCN infestations in potato fields and monitored the changes in population density and distribution that occurred when susceptible potato crops were grown. The inverse relationship between population density before planting and multiplication rate of PCN makes it difficult to devise reliable spatial nematicide application procedures, especially when the pre-planting population density is just less than the detection threshold. Also, the spatial dependence found suggests that the coarse sampling grids used commercially are likely to produce misleading distribution maps.     

Heterodera glycines in Indiana: III. 2-D Protein Patterns of Geographical Isolates

Protein patterns obtained by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis for three isolates of Heterodera glycines from southern Indiana appear qualitatively similar and have higher pairwise Jaccard similarity coefficients with each other than with isolates from northern Indiana. Three isolates from three northern counties share proteins not present in the southern isolates, but as a group the northern isolates are less similar to each other than are the southern Indiana isolates.     

Probability of Globodera rostochiensis Spread on Equipment and Potato Tubers

The probability of spreading cysts of Globodera rostochiensis on farming equipment and potato tubers was investigated in naturally infested field plots. The number of cysts recovered from soil that adhered to equipment differed significantly between different pieces of equipment. These differences were related to initial nematode density and, in most cases, to the volume of soil that adhered to the equipment. At an initial density of 0.04 egg/cm³ of soil, significantly more cysts were recovered from a potato digger than from a potato hiller, cultivator, or plow. At an initial density of 0.90 egg/cm³ of soil, significantly more cysts were recovered from the plow than from the other equipment. Although the population density was 22 times greater, only 10 times more cysts adhered 3 to equipment used in soil with a density of 0.90 egg/cm³ of soil than when used in soil infested at 0.04 egg/cm³. The number of potato tuber samples (4.5 kg) that contained cysts with viable eggs was positively correlated with the initial densities of G. rostochiensis in soil in which they were produced. The percentage of tuber samples with cysts containing viable eggs was 10-12% for tubers harvested from soil with densities less than 1 egg/cm³ and 30-76% for tubers harvested from soil with densities greater than 4 eggs/cm³ of soil.     

Body Wall Fine Structure of the Anterior Region of Meloidogyne incognita and Heterodera glycines Males

The body wall fine structure including the cuticle, hypodermis, and somatic muscles is similar in males of Meloidogyne incognita and Heterodera glycines. The cuticle can be regarded as basically three-layered in both species, but is much thicker in M. incognita than in H. glycines, and differences occur in surface markings. The chordal and interchordal hypodermis is syncytial. Hypodermal tissue pervades the lip region, and lines the stomatal cavity and stylet shaft. Various organelles and structures, some previously undescribed, are concentrated in the chords. Their possible role in lipid metabolism is considered, as well as the probable function of the hypodermis in fornlation of the cephalic framework and stylet. The interchordal hypodermis which encloses peripheral nerves, is periodically transversed by bundles of fibrils which are homologous with the subcuticular striation previously observed in the light microscope. The somatic musculature is meromyarian, and the muscle cells are of the platymyarian type with I, A, and H bands, but without Z bands or T tubules. Thin dense bands are present in the H bands, and appear to be associated with sarcoplasmic reticulum.     

The Interrelationship of Heterodera schachtii and Ditylenchus dipsaci on Sugarbeet

Heterodera schachtii significantly (P = 0.05) reduced sugarbeet root growth below that of uninoculated controls at 20, 24, and 28 C, and Ditylenchus dipsaci significantly (P = 0.05) reduced root growth below that of uninoculated controls at 16, 20, 24, and 28 C. A combination of H. schachtii and D. dipsaci significantly (P = 0.05) reduced root growth below that of single inoculations of H. schachtii at all temperatures and D. dipsaci at 20, 24, and 28 C. Single inoculations of H. schachtii and D. dipsaci significantly (P = 0.05) reduced top growth of sugarbeet below that of uninoculated controls at 20, 24, and 28 C, and 16, 20, 24, and 28 C, respectively. A combination of the two nematodes significantly (P = 0.05) reduced top growth below that of single inoculations of H. schachtii at all temperatures. However, a combination of the two nematodes failed to significantly (P = 0.05) reduce top growth below that of single inoculations of D. dipsaci at any temperature. Inoculations of either H. schachtii or D. dipsaci did not affect penetration of the other nematode, and D. dipsaci did not affect development and reproduction of H. schachtii. D. dipsaci did not reproduce on sugarbeet.