Olfactory cues guide plant parasitic
nematodes (PPNs) to their
host plants. We tested the hypothesis that non-host plant root volatiles
repel PPNs. To achieve this, we compared the olfactory responses of
infective juveniles (J2s) of the PPN Meloidogyne incognita to four non-host Asteraceae plants, namely, black-jack (Bidens pilosa), pyrethrum (Chrysanthemum
cinerariifolium), marigold (Tagetes
minuta), and sweet wormwood (Artemisia
annua), traditionally used in sub-Saharan Africa for
the management of PPNs. Chemical analysis by coupled gas chromatography–mass
spectrometry (GC/MS) combined with random forest analysis, followed
by behavioral assays, identified the repellents in the root volatiles
of B. pilosa, T. minuta, and A. annua as (E)-β-farnesene and 1,8-cineole, whereas camphor was attractive.
In contrast, random forest analysis predicted repellents for C. cinerariifolium and A. annua as β-patchoulene and isopropyl hexadecanoate. Our results
suggested that terpenoids generally account for the repellency of
non-host Asteraceae plants used in PPN management.