Host status of weed species to Pratylenchus coffeae
Dioscorea spp., Scutellonema bradys, Pratylenchus spp., alternative hosts.
Among the phytosanitary problems that affect the yam (Dioscorea sp.) crop in Brazil, dry rot disease stands out as the most important, affecting commercial rhizophores and seeds, having as causal agents the nematodes Scutellonema bradys, Pratylenchus coffeae and P. brachyurus. The objective of the present work was to evaluate the reaction of weed species to P. coffeae. Two trials were carried out in a greenhouse in a completely randomized design, with 11 treatments, represented by 10 weed species and the control (Dioscorea sp.) and eight replications. Plants were inoculated with 2,000 nematode specimens. After 60 days of inoculation, nematode populations were evaluated in roots and soil. The inoculum viability could be proven in both experiments from the control reproduction factor (Dioscorea sp.) (FR=0.710 and 3.09 respectively). Ricinus communis and Macroptilium lathyroides had similar behavior, with RF< 1 in the first experiment, RF> 1 in the second. The species Chenopodium album, Amaranthus sp., Panicum maximum, Eleusine indica, Senna occidentalis, Emilia coccinea, Euphorbia hyssopifolia and Richardia brasiliensis, differed statistically from the control for the evaluated variables, showing FR<1. It is inferred that the species R. communis and M. lathyroides have great potential to act as important reservoirs and sources of inoculum for P. coffeae. There are no records in the literature of the species M. lathyroides as a host to P. coffeae.