Scientists Aim To Dig up Solutions for Nematode Issues in Tomato Crops
August 25, 2022 Nematodes might be microscopic in size, but these soil-dwelling, plant parasitic pests have a giant impact on food crops. Statistics show nematodes are responsible for nearly $125 billion in annual crop loss worldwide. Tomato growers in particular can lose up to 80% of their yield due to infestation. With no letup in sight, a group of scientists are armed and ready to get to the root of the problem.
UF/IFAS Assistant Professor of Molecular Nematology Peter DiGennaro, along with two colleagues from N.C. State University, Dahlia Nielsen and Colleen Doherty, have been awarded $1.8 million from the National Science Foundation and $500,000 from the USDA to conduct groundbreaking research.
With the grants, the trio will study how the genome in tomato plants alters the behavior of the plant and pathogens during those increasingly warm evenings.
“The situation with nematodes is exacerbated by an emerging concern in agriculture: the effect of warming nighttime temperatures. This unprecedented trend is causing critical challenges to crops,” DiGennaro says.
Over the years, plants have adapted well to a consistent global temperature difference between day and night. In the past few decades, however, this difference has begun to shrink.
“Increasing nighttime temperatures, even as little as 4°F, have been connected to reduced yield, biomass, and grain quality as well as disease severity,” DiGennaro adds.
Nematodes are a pain for produce growers. Here a juvenile root-knot nematode burrows into a tomato root.
Photo courtesy of USDA-ARS
As it stands, growers are limited how they can control nematodes. They can apply nematicides or pesticides or grow tomatoes that resist the underground pests.
The research will help develop new ways to grow crops that are more resilient to nematode damage as well as increasing temperatures.
“We also see broader impacts in the future as an outcome of this research,” DiGennaro says. “We can identify types of tomato plants that are more resilient to warmer climates. We also want to elucidate the molecular biology behind the nematodes’ response to tomato plants under warmer nighttime temperatures.”
The new research will reach beyond identifying relevant genes in tomato plants.
“Understanding the nematode and the plant paves the way towards targeting the parasite directly. We are more interested in the plant genes than the nematode genes,” DiGennaro said. “We want to know how plants, through their genes, control their responses to nematodes and higher temperatures.”
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