Calcium sulfate and calcium carbonate as root-knot-nematode attractants and possible trap materials to protect crop plants

Syuuto Toyoda; Morihiro Oota; Hayato Ishikawa; Shinichiro Sawa

doi:10.5511/plantbiotechnology.20.0806a

Calcium sulfate and calcium carbonate as root-knot-nematode attractants and possible trap materials to protect crop plants

Plant Biotechnol (Tokyo). 2021 Mar 25;38(1):157-159. doi: 10.5511/plantbiotechnology.20.0806a.

Authors

Syuuto Toyoda¹, Morihiro Oota¹, Hayato Ishikawa¹, Shinichiro Sawa¹

Affiliation

¹ Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan.

PMID: 34177336
PMCID: PMC8215456
DOI: 10.5511/plantbiotechnology.20.0806a

Abstract

Root-knot nematodes (RKNs, genus Meloidogyne) are a class of plant parasites that seek out and infect the roots of many plant species. The identification of RKN attractants can be used in agriculture in conjunction with nematode-trapping technology to redirect RKN movements and eventually reduce their prevalence in the field. Here, we discovered that some commercial silica gels can attract nematodes. Silica gels that attract nematodes contain calcium sulfate. Calcium sulfate and calcium carbonate showed strong nematode attraction properties. When plant seeds were surrounded by calcium sulfate or calcium carbonate, nematodes were not attracted to the plant seeds. We propose that calcium sulfate and calcium carbonate can be used in agriculture as a novel material to trap RKN.

Keywords: agriculture; attractant; calcium sulfate; root-knot nematodes; trap.