The ornamental foliage plant cast iron, Aspidistra elatior, resistant to Meloidogyne incognita and M. hapla

Abstract

The reaction of cast iron plants (Aspidistra elatior) to Italian populations of the root-knot nematodes, Meloidogyne incognita race 1 and M. hapla, was evaluated under controlled conditions. Two groups, each of seven, of cast iron plants were transplanted into clay pots containing 1,000 cm3 of steam sterilized sandy soil and artificially infested with 20,000 eggs and juveniles per pot of one or other of the nematode populations. Controls were pots into which plants of the susceptible tomato cv. Roma VF were transplanted. Forty days after nematode inoculation, root galls, eggs and second stage juveniles on the roots and different developmental stages within the roots of both species of nematode were virtually absent from the roots of cast iron plants but numerous in those of tomato. Therefore, cast iron can be considered highly resistant to both nematode species and shows promise for inclusion in rotations of flower crops to control these species of root-knot nematodes.