Bacteria Tapped to Battle Crop-Damaging Roundworms

The cyst nematode is one of the toughest enemies of soybean growers in the U.S. Conventional control measures against the nematode such as the use of costly pesticides, crop rotation and resistant varieties have not been sustainable. Current focus is on the use of biological control in the form of beneficial bacteria in combination with a mixture of potent natural compounds. These are now being developed at the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. Recent experimental results show that exposure of the nematodes to bacteria belonging to the genus Pseudomonads showed immobility and disintegration of the nematodes. Biological compounds such as phenazines, hydrogen cyanide and phloroglucinols are found to be released by the bacteria group.

According to plant geneticist Patricia Okubara, "novel controls are needed that can be used as part of an integrated approach, with potential benefits including improved environmental health, longer-lasting crop resistance, and reduced production costs." Engineering crop plants to produce the nematode-neutralizing compounds themselves is also being considered as a long-lasting strategy against the nematode.

For details, see the press release at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2009/090330.htm