It is well known that the root-knot nematodes, Meloidogyne spp., incite and aggravate the diseases caused by fungal and bacterial pathogens. The synergistic effects of the inoculation of Meloidogyne incognita combined with Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici showed the greatly increased wilt symptoms developed on tomato plants compared to the inoculation of either of the two pests alone. For the biological control of the complex disease, a variety of bacterial isolates were tested for antagonistic effects to select ones that had both nematicidal and antifungal activities. Among forty plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) tested, Paenibacillus polymyxa G508 and G462 and P. lentimorbus G158 showed strong antifungal and nematicidal activities against F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici and second-stage juveniles (J2) of M. incognita, respectively, and also inhibited egg hatch of the nematode. The addition of Paenibacillus strains into potted soil suppressed the Fusarium-wilt severity and root galling on tomato and increased plant growths. P. lentimorbus G158 were abundantly proliferated on tomato seeds and hypocotyls more than P. polymyxa G 462 and had no phytotoxic effect on tomato plant. Under the greenhouse conditions, seed treatment of P. lentimorbus G158 reduced wilt severity caused by Fusarium wilt-root knot disease complex and root gall formation and increased tomato growth compared to the untreated control. Root-galls caused by both pathogens treated with bacterial culture had fewer and smaller giant-cells than untreated control, and scanning electron microscopy revealed alteration and distortion of hyphal cell wall of F. oxysporum and lysis of M. incognita egg shell by the bacterial treatment. All of these results suggest the Paenibacillus strains, especially G158 may have a high potential developed as biological control agents for the complex disease.

Root-knot nematodes, Meloidogyne spp., are the most important plant-parasitic nematodes, causing severe crop yield loss with an estimated 1000 billion dollars a year worldwide. The nematodes also cause disease complexes with other microbial pathogens, damaging plants more severely than each of the pathogens alone or their sum does and making control efficiencies weakened or nullified in disease complexes. In our study, the synergistic effect of the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita was confirmed in the fusarium wilt of tomato caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici, which showed greatly increased wilt symptoms in combined inoculations. Use of antifungal and nematicidal plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) were considered for controlling the disease complex because of its causal agents. Among forty PGPR strains tested, P. polymyxa G508, G462 and P. lentimorbus G158 showed strong antifungal and nematicidal activities against F. oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici and M. incognita second stage juveniles (J2), respectively. The Cultures of these bacterial strains inhibited the nematode egg hatching completely even at 1% diluted concentration. In pot experiments, treatment of the Paenibacillus strains reduced wilt severity of tomato with the control efficacy of about 90% ~ 98%. Their treatment also reduced gall formation by 64% - 88% compared to the untreated control. P. lentimorbus GBR158, which well established on seeds and hypocotyls at high population levels, reduced the disease complex greatly with the control value of about 98% when the tomato seeds were treated with the bacterial strain. Plant growth was also stimulated by the seed treatment of the bacterial strain. Scanning electron microscopy revealed alteration and distortion of hyphal cell walls of F. oxysporum and lysis of M. incognita egg shell by the bacterial treatment, showing direct antifungal and nematicidal action mechanisms. No extensive giant cell formation was observed near nematode in the tomato roots treated with the bacteria, indicating a systemic action mechanism. All of these results suggest that the Paenibacillus strains, especially G158 may have a high potential to be developed as biological agents for controlling the root-knot nematode and the disease complex.