Biological control of the rootknot nematode, Meloidogyne javanica (Chitwood) using Bacillus isolates, on soybean

In this study, the biocontrol potential of Bacillus isolates was investigated in laboratory and greenhouse experiments. Five out of 70 bacterial isolates from the root-zone of crops and a goat pasture caused second stage juvenile (J2) mortality greater than 50% in vitro after 24 h. Three of the five selected isolates (BC27, BC29 and BC31) which were isolated from the root-zone of a goat pasture caused J2 mortality greater than 80% at 108 spores ml−1in vitro after 24 h, with BC27 causing 100% J2 mortality after 3 h. Seed treatment of soybean with Isolates BC27 and BC29 caused a reduction in rootknot galling and egg mass counts (P ≤ 0.0001) and also caused a significant increase in shoot weight (P ≤ 0.0001), when compared to the Control. Blast analysis revealed that the two select isolates, BC27 and BC29, had similar sequences to Bacillus spp. T2 and Bacillus spp. KT18, as listed on the Gen-Bank, respectively.