Penetration and Development of Meloidogyne incognita Race-3 on Pseuderanthemum atropurpureum in Presence and Absence of Rhizoctonia solani

Although lot of information on life cycle of M. incognita is available on several hosts but there is hardly any report available in the literature on life cycle of M. incognita Race-3 on P. atropurpureum. The present study revealed that. M. incognita Race-3 took 30 days to complete its life cycle on P. atropurpureum in absence of R. solani. However, the life cycle of M. incognita Race-3 was adversely affected in presence of R. solani and took 44 days to complete the life cycle. M. incognita Race-3 second stage juvenile (J2) invaded the roots of P. atropurpureum within 12 hours after inoculation in absence of R. solani. However, after 12 hours no penetration of juvenile was recorded when both M. incognita Race-3 and R. solani were concomitantly inoculated. The rate of penetration gradually increased significantly, with the passage of time. The results revealed that presence of R. solani not only drastically reduced the percentage penetration of juveniles but also subsequently delayed the development of different stages of life cycle and decreased the fecundity of root-knot nematode in P. atropurpureum. Keeping in view the economic importance of P. atropurpureum as an ornamental as well as medicinal plant life cycle of M. incognita on P. atropurpureum was studied.