Evaluation of Multiple Impacts of Furfural Acetone on Nematodes In Vitro and Control Efficiency against Root-Knot Nematodes in Pots and Fields

Abstract

Root-knot nematodes (RKNs) seriously endanger agricultural development and cause great economic losses worldwide. Natural product furfural acetone (FAc) is a promising nematicide with strong attractant and nematicidal activities, but baseline information about the impact of FAc on the reproduction, egg hatching, feeding, and growth of nematodes and its pest control efficiency in field are lacking. Here, the inhibition effects of FAc on nematodes in vitro and its RKN control efficiency in pot and field were investigated. FAc inhibited the egg hatching of Meloidogyne incognita by 91.66% at 200 mg/L after 2 days and suppressed the reproduction, feeding, and growth of Caenorhabditis elegans in vitro. In pot experiments, FAc in various dosages reduced the disease index of plant root significantly. In field experiments, FAc exhibited control effect on RKNs equivalent to commercial nematicides avermectin and metam sodium, with a reduction in disease index by 36.89% at a dose of 50 mg/plant. FAc also reduced the population density of RKNs in soil, with a reduction rate of 75.26% at the dose of 750 mg/m2. No adverse effect was detected on the plant growth after FAc application. These results provide compelling evidence for development of FAc as an appropriate alternative for current nematicides.

Reproductive Toxicity of Furfural Acetone in Meloidogyne incognita and Caenorhabditis elegans

“…7%) of avermectin at a dose of 1 mg/pot (Figure 1B). These results were consistent with previous studies [18,19], indicating the stable RKN control efficiency of FAc.…”

“…FAc was also found to have reproductive inhibition activity on nematodes (Figure 2). Unlike other nematicides with only single nematicidal activity, FAc has various anti-nematode activities, including attract-and-kill effect [18] and inhibition activity of egg-hatching, feeding, and growth [19]. FAc has been proven to inhibit nematodes in all life stages, which can explain why it exhibited a control effect in fields equivalent with those of the commercial nematicides avermectin and metam sodium [19].…”

“…The effect of FAc on nematode reproduction was determined using 96-well plates as previously described [19,31]. To each well was added a single synchronized L 4 hermaphrodites, 5 µL of E. coli OP50 cultured in S medium (OD600 = 2.0), and 115 µL of FAc solution dissolved in S medium [31].…”

“…Furfural acetone (FAc), also known as 4-(2-furyl)-3-buten-2-one, is a volatile organic compound produced by microbes and plants [16,17]. FAc reportedly exerts multiple effects on M. incognita [18,19] and achieves equivalent efficiency against RKNs with the commercial nematicide avermectin in the field [19]. FAc was recognized as a type of flavoring agent and food additive in 2019 [20].…”

Natural nematicidal metabolites and advances in their biocontrol capacity on plant parasitic nematodes

“…These results demonstrated that FAc is an appropriate alternative for nematicide development. 234 Gymnoascole acetate was previously isolated as a nematicidal component of the fungal strain G. reessii za-130. In pot experiments on tomato plants, the numbers of root galls in plants and M. incognita within both soil and roots were markedly reduced following treatment with 2-200 mg mL −1 gymnoascole acetate per kg soil.…”