Meloidogyne incognita and Meloidogyne arenaria are important parasitic nematodes of vegetable and ornamental crops. Microplot and greenhouse experiments were conducted to test commercial formulations of the biocontrol agent Pasteuria penetrans for control of M. incognita on tomato and cucumber and M. arenaria on snapdragon. Three methods of application for P. penetrans were assessed including s...

Pasteuria strain S-1 was found to parasitize the sting nematode Belonolaimus longicaudatus. S-1 spores attached to several strains of B. longicaudatus from different geographical locations within the United States. However, they did not adhere to any of the following species: Heterodera schachtii, Longidorus africanus, Meloidogyne hapla, M. incognita, M. javanica, Pratylenchus brachyurus, P. sc...

Pasteuria penetrans is a mycelial, endospore-forming, bacterial parasite that has shown great potential as a biological control agent of root-knot nematodes. Considerable progress has been made during the last 10 years in understanding its biology and importance as an agent capable of effectively suppressing root-knot nematodes in field soil. The objective of this review is to summarize the cur...

The degree of specificity in host-parasite interactions has important implications for ecology and evolution. Unfortunately, specificity can be difficult to determine when parasites cannot be cultured. In such cases, studies often use isolates of unknown genetic composition, which may lead to an underestimation of specificity. We obtained the first clones of the unculturable bacterium Pasteuria...

The Pasteuria group of Gram positive bacteria are invertebrate parasites with the potential to be developed into biological control agents of plant-parasitic nematodes. A key step in the infection process is the attachment of endospores to the cuticle of plant-parasitic nematodes, possibly through a Velcro-like attachment system involving the collagen-like fibres of the exosporium (Davies, 2009...

Pasteuria ramosa is a spore-forming bacterium that infects Daphnia species. Previous results demonstrated a high specificity of host clone/parasite genotype interactions. Surface proteins of bacteria often play an important role in attachment to host cells prior to infection. We analyzed surface proteins of P. ramosa spores by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. For the first time, we prove th...

Two populations of Trophonema okamotoi parasitized by Pasteuria sp. were found on Liquidambar styraciflua (sweetgum) and on an unidentified tropical grass in north-central Florida. Endospores of this Pasteuria sp. attached to motile vermiform second-stage juveniles (J2) and males of T. okamotoi, but not to other developmental stages. Sporangia and new endospores were produced only inside the bo...

There were strong interactions between plant-hosts and Pasteuria (P0.01) on numbers of eggmasses, root galling eggs/eggmass produced by females Meloidogyne javanica after 422, 595 767 degree days first, second third harvests. The presence absence the biocontrol agent (Pasteuria penetrans) in treatments influenced these parameters it was also plant hosts. After first harvest, there significant d...

Pasteuria penetrans is an obligate, mycelial, and endospore-forming bacterial parasite of Meloidogyne spp. with promise for the management of root-knot nematodes. Our objective was to use regression analysis of developmental time (days) to various temperatures to determine the minimal temperature for growth and development of P. penetrans in Meloidogyne spp. The data set for regression originat...

A parasite's host range can have important consequences for ecological and evolutionary processes but can be difficult to infer. Successful infection depends on the outcome of multiple steps and only some steps of the infection process may be critical in determining a parasites host range. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the host range of the bacterium Pasteuria ramosa, a Daphnia paras...