Interaction of Plant Parasitic Nematode with Fusarium Wilt a Disease Complex

Abstract

Plant disease complexes are caused by variety of interactions between fungal plant pathogens and plant parasitic nematodes but the most significant and frequent association is Fusarium oxysporum and Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp). Nematode-fungal interactions are frequently categorized as either synergistic or additive. Different plant-parasitic nematodes caused damage to the host plants depending on their life cycle and feeding habit. Nematode feeding sites are areas with intense metabolic activity, such as syncytia or giant cells, and have a large number of mitochondria and golgi bodies. In addition, cytoplasm is dense and packed with ribosomes. Injuries of host plants are vulnerable to infection by fungi that need assistance to enter their host. Nematode-instigated physiological changes can be fundamental but they still have a lot of detrimental effects. Some nematodes make plant tissues more favorable for pathogen that negatively affects the host by causing them to grow and reproduce more rapidly. Moreover, they alter the root exudates of host plant, promoting the various phases of fungal life cycle like germination, development and reproduction. The importance of nematode-fungus synergistic complex in the development of distinct crop species that exhibit resistance to various biotic or abiotic stresses is only infrequently, if ever described, although numerous studies reveal that resistance breaks down during concomitant infection.