Project Number: 6602-21220-011-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Jan 14, 2003
End Date: Oct 31, 2007

Objective:
Identify, characterize, and develop nematode resistance in cotton, peanut, grain pearl millet, and tall fescue germplasm. Determine the effect of new and established cultural practices on populations of plant-parasitic nematodes, their management, their natural enemies, and crop yield. Integrate resistant cultivars with other nematode and disease management tactics.

Approach:
Greenhouse and field experiments will be conducted to identify and characterize resistance to root-knot nematodes in cotton, peanut, and pearl millet genotypes, and to lesion nematodes in tall fescue. Molecular markers will be identified for resistance genes. Experiments will be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of new marketable rotation crops for cotton and peanut, identify leguminous winter cover crops for cotton that are poor hosts for nematode reproduction, and determine the effect of crop rotation and nematicide use on accumulation in soil of the nematode-parasitic bacterium Pasteuria penetrans. Resistant cultivars will be evaluated in replicated field trials alone and in combination with other nematode or disease management tactics to determine the level of nematode suppression, disease incidence, and crop yield. Crop rotations including susceptible, resistant, and non-host crops will be the primary integrated approach tested because they have the potential to suppress other nematode pests and soil-borne diseases, and reduce the selection pressure on the nematode population.

Project Team

Timper, Patricia Davis, Richard Lewis, Wallace

Project Annual Reports

FY 2003