Influence of earthworms on larval emergence in the potato-root eelworm, Heterodera rostochiensis Wollenweber

Hatching experiments were carried out with potato-root eelworm cysts ( a ) from plant pots containing different numbers of earthworms, and ( b ) from worm casts. Cysts from these sources differed from controls in the following ways: (1) more larvae emerged, per cyst; (2) the larvae emerged sooner; (3) more cysts produced larvae; (4) the number of emerging larvae, per cyst, increased with the number of earthworms.
Examination of the contents of cysts isolated from worm casts showed that, compared with controls, 145% more eggs hatched; it also indicated some of the limitations of the 'per-cyst' basis of expressing results.     

Soil teachings and the hatching of larvae of the potato-root eelworm, Heterodera rostochiensis Wollenweber

Leachings were taken from fallow soil brought in from an outside plot at monthly intervals throughout a year, and tested for their ability to stimulate hatching of the potato-root eelworm. Some of the leachings showed stimulatory action, the results indicating a seasonal pattern of activity with a peak in August. As noted previously, this suggests that soil organisms produce substances able to stimulate hatching and that these are probably responsible for the so-called ‘spontaneous’ hatching.     

Control of the potato-root eelworm, Heterodera rostochiensis Wollenweber, by allyl isothiocyanate, the mustard oil of Brassica nigra L

Previous work showed that, in the presence of root excretioci of certain crucifen, larvae of the potato-root eelworm do not emerge from the cysts when stimulated by potato-root excretions; a similar lack of response is also shown in the presence of dilute solutions of allyl isothiocyanate, the mustard oil of black mustard. The present paper describes a small-scale field trial in which this mustard oil is applied with peat to the drills at the time of planting. An increase in yield of about 100% resulted from a dressing of the oil equivalent to o.1 cwt/acre.     

The influence of crucifers and mustard oil on the emergence of larvae of the potato-root eelworm, Heterodera rostochtensis Wollenweber

Hatching experiments were carried out with cysts of the potato-root eelworm. The effect of solutions of potato-root excretion mixed with root excretions of six types of crucifer seedlings was studied. With cress, white mustard, and black mustard, the emergence of larvae in the mixed excretions was very much less than that from control cysts in potato-root excretion alone. On subsequent return to potato-root excretion alone, larval emergence was found to be unimpaired in the case of white and black mustards; in the case of cress, however, the total emergence differed significantly from control. Similar effects, of both types, were obtained with certain dilutions of ally isothiocyanate, the mustard oil of black mustard seed, in potato-root excretion.     

The effects on a population of potato-root eelworm (Heterodera rostochiensis) of growing potatoes resistant to pathotype B

The effects on a potato-root eelworm (Heterodera rostochiensis Woll.) population of growing potatoes resistant to pathotype B of the eelworm were investigated. The eelworm population, which was originally nearly entirely pathotype A, had been changed into a mixture of pathotypes A, B and C before 1961, when the experiments described in this paper began, by growing potatoes resistant only to pathotype A. The resistant potatoes grown in the years 1961 and 1962 were certain clones of the hybrid triploid species Solarium xjuzepczukii Buk., clones bred from S. multidissectum Hawkes with the gene H₂ and clones bred from S. vernei Bitt. et Wittm. In the years 1963-65 the clone used was D 40 which has both the gene H₂ from Andigena and the gene H₂ from 5. multidissectum and is resistant to both pathotypes A and B of the eelworm. The only potatoes which caused a reduction in the egg population were those bred from S. vernei. The clone D 40, although it had little effect on the egg population, appeared to have more resistance than could be accounted for from possessing genes H₁ and H₂.     

Observations on the biology of the potato-root eelworm, Heterodera schachtii Schmidt

Results are presented of experiments on the effect of low temperature and of soil type upon the potato-root eelworm, Heterodera schachtii.
In some experiments exposure of cysts, to low temperatures had a definite lethal effect, but in others the cysts were unharmed. The reason for this variation was not apparent. Exposure of the larvae of die nematode to even a relatively slight degree of frost resulted in the death of the larvae, provided mat die surrounding medium was completely frozen. In this respect the larvae appear to differ markedly from those of the beet strain of H. schachtii. That the larvae had actually been killed was shown by the fact that they produced no cysts on the roots of potato plants and also by their almost immediate absorption of iodine.
It was confirmed that H. schachtii cysts produced on the roots of potato plants grown in a heavy medium are smaller in size and fewer in number than those formed on the roots of plants grown in a light medium. The heavy medium used was pure clay, the light one pure sand, while equal numbers of eelworm larvae served in each case as inoculum. The difference in cyst size was significant, and fewer larvae emerged from the cysts formed in clay than from those produced in sand.     

The resistance of potato varieties to Heterodera schachtii Schmidt, the potato-root eelworm

The potato varieties Epicure and Doon Star permitted the production of fewer and smaller cysts of Heterodera schachtii on their roots than the varieties Golden Wonder and Majestic, when all were grown under standard conditions. Under the stimulus of potato-root excretion the number of larvae which emerged from Epicure and Doon Star cysts was less than that from Majestic or Golden Wonder cysts of the same volume. Accepting Lapage's (1938) criteria of resistance to nematode infestation in animals and applying them to plants, it is concluded that this deleterious effect of the variety on the eelworm is probably of the nature of a degree of resistance to eelworm attack specific to each variety and is physiological and not anatomical in action. Of the varieties tested, Epicure is judged the most resistant, closely followed by Doon Star. Majestic is fairly susceptible but not so much so as Golden Wonder on which the eelworm forms large cysts that are extremely productive of larvae.     

Field trials with D-D mixture against potato-root eelworm

A D-D mixture has been tested against Heterodera rostochiensis at seven 2-acre sites on sands, silts and blackland soils. Apart from a pilot trial where soil was injected in spring, injections were carried out in the autumn, and potatoes were grown the following year. Factors investigated were rate of application (0, 200, 400 and 800 lb. D-D/acre), depth of injection (4 or 8 in.) and the effect of rolling after injection. At the most responsive of the sites (Wainfleet), increases in yield, kill, and the post-crop eelworm population were all roughly proportional to the rate of application. Under favourable circumstances a 50% increase in yield and something like a 50% reduction in eelworm population 4 weeks after injection can be expected from 800 lb./acre, but the reduction is more than made good during the growth of the subsequent crop; accelerated multiplication of eelworm on the treated plots leads to their having a larger population than the untreated controls at lifting time. Of the sites tested, the blackland soils gave a lower eelworm kill and a much lower yield increase from D-D than silts or sands. After autumn injection the nematocidal, and probably the phytocidal, effects of D-D persist in the soil for many weeks. The hypochlorite method of 'hatching' eelworm larvae for counting has proved unreliable.     

Assessment of the damage caused to potatoes by potato cyst eelworm, Heterodera rostochiensis Woll

Thirty field trials were carried out from 1960 to 1967, mainly on peat and silt soils in the eastern counties of England, to study the relationship between potato yield and numbers of H. rostochiensis. The population range of most interest to advisers (0–60 full cysts/100 g (0–150 eggs/g)) was encountered by chance fairly frequently. The relationship between yield and initial eelworm densities over this range could be expressed equally well untransformed or transformed (using square root transformation for cyst counts and log. transformation for egg counts). Sigmoid curves could not often be fitted to the graphs of yield against log. egg count because densities large or small enough were not often encountered and small numbers cannot be estimated with sufficient accuracy. Assuming straight-line regressions of yield on untransformed eelworm densities certain generalizations can be made. The slopes vary somewhat, but on average losses are 1·2 tons/acre per ten full cysts/100 g and 0·85 tons/acre per twenty eggs/g. Linear regressions tend to be parallel over a large range of potential yields which means that yield loss is independent of potential yield. In five trials there was some evidence that the yield had reached a minimum varying between 5 and 10 tons/acre when eelworm populations were very dense. In two trials, estimates of maximum and minimum yield were obtained. Both gave the difference (maximum loss) as 7 tons/acre and the ratio of minimum to maximum as 0·50 and 0·44 respectively. Yield losses were often great without obvious symptoms appearing in the haulm.     

The hatching factor of the potato-root eelworm

1. The hatching factor of the potato-root eelworm was concentrated from potato-root leachings by adsorption on charcoal. The crude material, extracted from charcoal with acetone, was purified by partition between ethyl acetate and m-potassium dihydrogen phosphate, and ethyl acetate and a solution of potassium metabisulphite (disulphite). Neutral material was removed by extraction from phosphate buffer at pH7.8. The yield of purified material, after chromatography on silica, DEAE-cellulose and Perlon columns, was 18mug./l. of potato-root leachings, and 0.04% by weight of the acetone-soluble material extracted from charcoal; 20% of the activity of the original potato-root leachings was recovered. 2. The purified material was a colourless gum. On paper chromatograms it gave a single weakly fluorescing spot, which reacted with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine and aniline-xylose reagents. It was confirmed that the hatching factor is an acid, and it is inactivated at values above pH9. Other properties were a ready oxidation by permanganate and reaction with certain carbonyl reagents. Colour tests for alpha- and beta-unsaturated gamma-lactones were negative. The hatching factor showed no light-absorption maxima at wavelengths above 210mmu; absorption bands in the infrared region (670-4000cm.(-1)) are given. Our purified material, although a gum, gave a similar hatch to a ;crystalline' product at 640 times its concentration.     

The inhibition of hatching of potato root eelworm (Heterodera rostochiensis Woll.) in partially sterilized soil

Experiments on the hatching of Heterodera rostochiensis have shown that the addition of ammonium carbonate to potato root water markedly inhibits hatching when the concentration of ammonia introduced is approximately 100 p.p.m. The strong acid salts of ammonia in equivalent amounts have no such inhibitory effect.
These observations are linked with experiments on the effect of partial sterilization of soil on the hatching of H. rostochiensis , and it is demonstrated that delay of hatching in such soils is only effective so long as the ammonia concentration within the soil is maintained at a sufficiently high level.     

The interrelationships of the causal fungus of brown root rot of tomatoes and potato root eelworm, Heterodera rostochiensis Woll.

In a study of the association between the causal fungus of brown root rot of tomatoes and Heterodera rostochiensis Woll., it was demonstrated that the nematode did not increase the susceptibility of the roots to invasion by the fungus; however, the fungus decreased the hatch of the potato root eleworm, the invasion of the host plant by the nematode, and number of new cysts subsequently produced.