A nematode pathogen of arum lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica) revealed in the search for a potential biological control agent against this noxious weed

摘要

Arum or calla lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica) is an important ornamental plant throughout the world. There is a small Australian industry based in Victoria which exports rhizomes within and outside of Australia. In Western Australia Z. aethiopica has escaped cultivation to become a noxious weed. The ineffectiveness of chemical means of control have led to the search for pathogens of Z. aethiopica as potential bio-control agents of this noxious weed. In a recent survey of Z. aethiopica infested sites (1), galled roots were observed on a number of Z. aethiopica plants indicating the possible presence of a root-knot nematode. Recent enzymatic studies have demonstrated that species of Meloidogyne may be reliably differentiated on the basis of species specific enzyme phenotypes alone, using polyacrylimide gel electrophoresis PAGE (2).ududThe purpose of this study was to identify the causal agents of the galled Z. aethiopica roots and to determine the host range of the causative agents through a literature search.