This chapter focuses on live bacterial action towards the plant parasitic nematodes and their economically important host plants. Recent advances used in this field as a background to support future research is also considered.

Serratia marcescens (SM) is currently considered as a biocontrol agent against plant parasitic nematodes. It is one of the most effective bacteria for degradation of chitin. This lytic bacteria was evaluated on the survival of Meloidogyne incognita juveniles under laboratory conditions. The best treatment by (SM 36) mutant achieved zero viable juveniles in either S or S/10 i.e, highly effective on juveniles mortality compared to the wild type of SM and untreated control which recorded 51.8, 49.3 and 49 juveniles, respectively. The numbers of non viable juveniles of the best treatment were 6, 4 and 2.8 individuals after 24, 48 and 72 hrs, respectively compared to the SM wild type which achieved 26.3. 33.3 and 27.3 while the untreated control did not show any effect on the juveniles. There were positive relationships between the nematode mortality and each of the bacteria concentration and enzyme production from the mutants. The numbers of either viable juveniles or non viable juveniles were reduced at S or S/10 dilutions and exposure periods of 24, 48 and 72 hr compared to the untreated control. This reduction was attributed to the dead nematode bodies which were degraded and destroyed by these bacterial mutants. Mutation achieved increasing of chitinase and alkaline protease-over producing mutants, which produced two to three times more endochitinase activity than the wild type of S.marcescens.

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Four species of plant parasitic nematodes were present in soil samples planted with forage legumes at Alachua County, Florida, USA. The detected species Belonolaimus longicaudatus, Criconemella ornate, Hoplolaimus galeatus, and Paratrichodorus minor were described in the present study. They belong to orders Rhabditida (Belonolaimus longicaudatus, Criconemella ornate, and Hoplolaimus galeatus) and Triplonchida (Paratrichodorus minor) and to taxonomical families Dolichodoridae (Belonolaimus longicaudatus), Hoplolaimidae (Hoplolaimus galeatus) Criconematidae (Criconemella ornate), and Trichodoridae (Paratrichodorus minor). The identification of the present specimens was based on the classical taxonomy, following morphological and morphometrical characters in the species specific identification keys.