Use of Dactylaria brochopaga, a Predacious Fungus, for Managing Root-Knot Disease of Wheat (Triticum aestivum) Caused by Meloidogyne graminicola

A laboratory experiment was conducted to study the induction of constricting rings and test predation of Dactylaria brochopaga isolates against second stage juveniles (J2s) of Meloidogyne graminicola. Among the five fungal isolates, isolate D showed the greatest number of predatory rings and, consequently, trapped the maximum number of M. graminicola J2s in dual cultures. Another pot experiment was conducted to study the effect of D. brochopaga (isolate D) on the management of wheat root-knot disease. Applying a mass culture (10 g/pot) and a spore suspension of the fungus with and without cow dung manure to soil infested with 2,000 M. graminicola juveniles significantly improved plant height, root length, weights of shoots, roots, panicles and grains per hill compared to those in the control. Moreover, the fungus significantly reduced the number of root-knots, the number of egg masses, juveniles, and females per hill compared to those in the control. Bio-efficacy of the fungus was heightened when the mass culture and a spore suspensions were used in combination with cow dung manure to improve the plant growth parameters and reduce the number of root-knot and reproductive factors. Further investigations should be conducted to identify the impact of this fungus in the field.