Pasteuria penetrans is a mycelial, endospore-forming, bacterial parasite that has shown great potential as a biological control agent of root-knot nematodes. Considerable progress has been made during the last 10 years in understanding its biology and importance as an agent capable of effectively suppressing root-knot nematodes in field soil. The objective of this review is to summarize the cur...

Onion maggot (Delia antiqua) is a prominent pest of allium crops in temperate zones worldwide. Management this relies on prophylactic insecticide applications at planting that target the first generation. Because effective options are limited, growers interested novel tactics such as deployment entomopathogenic nematodes. We surveyed muck soils where onions typically grown to determine if nemat...

The insect parasitic nematodes Heterorhabditis spp. are mutualistically associated with entomopathogenic bacteria, Photorhabdus spp. A novel association has been detected between H. megidis isolate EU17 and the endospore-forming bacterium Paenibacillus nematophilus. P. nematophilus sporangia adhere to infective juveniles (IJs) of H. megidis and develop in insect hosts along with the nematodes a...

Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) are lethal parasites of insects, used as biocontrol agents. The objectives of this work were to survey the presence of EPN in continental Portugal and to characterize the different species. Of the 791 soil samples collected throughout continental Portugal, 53 were positive for EPN. Steinernema feltiae and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora were the two most abundant ...

Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are unique parasites due to their symbiosis with entomopathogenic bacteria and their ability to kill insect hosts quickly after infection. It is widely believed that EPNs rely on their bacterial partners for killing hosts. Here we disproved this theory by demonstrating that the in vitro activated infective juveniles (IJs) of Steinernema carpocapsae (a well-stud...

Abstract Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) belonging to the genera, Steinernema and Heterorhabditis , occur naturally in soil along with plant-parasitic which are important root pests of many different crops. Here, we report effects four registered nematicidal compounds (fluopyram, fosthiazate, metam potassium, fenamiphos) that used for control PPNs on survival, virulence, penetration efficienc...