Response of lines of faba bean to six populations of root lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus spp.) from the Mediterranean region

Abstract

Investigations were undertaken in 2000-2001 to evaluate the reaction of 99 faba bean lines (40 from Algeria, 6 from Morocco and 53 from Tunisia) to six populations of the root lesion nematodes, three of Pratylenchus thornei and one each of P. neglectus, P. penetrans and P. pinguicaudatus. Groups of fifty clay pots were sown with three seeds/pot of each line and maintained in a glasshouse at 22 ±2°C. Two pots of each line and nematode population were inoculated with 15,000 nematodes/pot. The lines FRYT98-6 and FRYT98-60 were completely free of P. neglectus infestation. Numbers of P. thornei of Italian, Moroccan and Tunisian populations in the roots of the lines FRYT98-35, FRYT98-47 and FRYT98-56 were low. The infestation of P. penetrans and P. pinguicaudatus was also low in the lines FRYA98-48 and FRYT98-44, respectively.