Open Access

ARTICLE

Biological Control of Root-Knot Nematode Meloidogyne incognita in Psoralea corylifolia Plant by Enhancing the Biocontrol Efficacy of Trichoderma harzianum Using Press Mud

Yasar Nishat¹, Mohammad Danish^1,*, Heba I. Mohamed^2,*, Hisamuddin Shaikh¹, Abeer Elhakem³

1 Section of Plant Pathology and Nematology, Department of Botany, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, 202002, India
2 Department of Biological and Geological Sciences, Faculty of Education, Ain Shams University, Cairo, 11341, Egypt
3 Department of Biology, College of Science and Humanities in Al-Kharj, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj, 11942, Saudi Arabia

* Corresponding Authors: Mohammad Danish. Email: ; Heba I. Mohamed. Email: ;

(This article belongs to this Special Issue: Role of Biostimulants in the Alleviation of Biotic and Abiotic Stress)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2022, 91(8), 1757-1777. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2022.021267

Received 05 January 2022; Accepted 16 February 2022; Issue published 14 April 2022

Abstract

Meloidogyne incognita is a plant pathogen causing root-knot disease and loss of crop yield. The present study aimed to use Trichoderma harzianum as a biocontrol agent against plant-parasitic nematodes and used press mud, which is a solid waste by-product of sugarcane, as a biocontrol agent and biofertilizer. Therefore, the combined application of T. harzianum and press mud may enhance nematode control and plant growth. Elemental analysis of press mud using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) integrated with an Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analyzer revealed the presence of different elements such as C, O, Mg, Si, P, K, Ca, Cu and Zn. In addition, a greenhouse study was conducted to investigate the combined effects of press mud and T. harzianum on M. incognita reproduction and growth and the biochemical features of Psoralea corylifolia. The results showed that plant length, dry biomass, leaf area, the number of seeds per plant, chlorophyll a, chl b, carotenoid content, nitrate reductase, carbonic anhydrase, and nitrogen content were significantly increased (P ≤ 0.05) in the T2 plants (plants were treated with 100 g of press mud + 50 mL T. harzianum before one week of M. incognita inoculation), over inoculated plants (IC). Antioxidant enzyme activity of ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the foliage of P. corylifolia was significantly increased when plants were treated with press mud + T. harzianum. A significant reduction in the number of egg masses, nematode population, and root-knot index (RKI) was found in plants with T2 plants. These results suggest that the combined application of T. harzianum and press mud has the potential to control the M. incognita infection and can be used as an environmentally safe alternative to chemical nematicides and also help in the removal of sugarcane waste that causes environmental pollution.

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