Effect of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus intraradices on the false root-knot nematode Nacobbus aberrans in tomato plants

Information about the interaction between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and the false root-knot nematode Nacobbus aberrans (Thorne, 1935) Thorne & Allen, 1944 is scarce. The effect of Glomus intraradices Schenk & Smith on tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) cv. Platense inoculated with nematode juveniles from Lisandro Olmos (Argentina) was studied under greenhouse conditions. Six treatments with five replications were performed. After 80 days, nematode reproduction and percentage of AMF colonization in roots were estimated. Some plant growth parameters were also measured. In general, plants with AMF and AMF plus nematodes grew as well as the control without AMF and without nematodes. Furthermore, G. intraradices was beneficial in reducing nematode-induced damage in roots (lower number of galls) as well as in having a suppressive effect on parasite reproduction. This is the first study on the use of G. intraradices as a possible strategy in the control of N. aberrans in tomato.