Pathogenicity of Helicotylenchus multicinctus on plantains, Musa (AAB)

摘要

In vitro plantain seedlings cv. 'Home 1' grown in 15 1 buckets, outdoor in semi-shade, were inoculated with 0, 1000, 5000, 10000 and 20000 Helicotylenchus multicinctus per plant, to assess the effect of the nematode on the crop. After 120 days, inoculation of 1000 and 5000 nematodes resulted in increase in plant height, pseudostem girth, leaf area, and top and root dry weight. The increase was significant at the latter Pi (P < 0.05), except for pseudostem girth and dry root weight. At Pi less than 10000 nematodes per plant, plant growth was comparable to the untreated control. The density of the nematodes increased more when the plants were inoculated with 1000 nematodes per plant than with 5000, 10000 and 20000 (P < 0.05). The effect of the nematode on the photosynthetic activities of the host plant followed the same pattern as the change in vegetative growth parameters. This study shows that H. multicinctus is a minor parasite of Musa in the humid tropics.