STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF AN INSECTICIDAL PREPARATION BASED ON PAECILOMYCES FUMOSOROSEA AGAINST ROOT-KNOT NEMATODE MELOIDOGYNE ARENARIA

The efficacy of a commercial insecticidal preparation based on Paecilomyces fumosorosea, Pecilomycin PM116, against root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne arenaria) was evaluated on tomatoes. A comparison was made with biological (Nematophagin) and chemical (Vydate 5G) nematicides. Pecilomycin and Nematophagin did not suppress the development of plants, their weight and size were at the level of healthy controls. The analysis of photosynthetic pigments showed that the chlorophyll b level, the sum of chlorophylls and carotenoids when the root system was treated with Pecilomycin was comparable to healthy controls. Despite the fact that the plants treated with Pecilomycin were completely infected, their infection rate was 1.27 times lower than the controls, and single galls were only present on the roots. The treatment of the roots with Pecilomycin did not significantly affect the number and size of galls; the females in them were at the control level; however, the number of eggs in oothecae was 1.5 times less. Thus, Pecilomycin has an inhibitory effect on the root-knot nematode and a beneficial effect on the tomato plant. Further research and search for new strains of P. fumosorosea with high virulence against one or more pests opens up opportunities for the creation of new bionematicides.