Modulation of Various Phytoconstituents in Tomato Seedling Growth and Meloidogyne incognita–Induced Stress Alleviation By Vermicompost Application

Abstract

In addition to chemical pesticides and fertilizers, the use of vermicompost can help in the management of root-knot nematodes (RKN) while also augmenting plant growth. The present study is carried out to determine the role of neem-based vermicompost on plant growth during stress produced by Meloidogyne incognita. Vermicompost (Vcom) and soil were mixed in various proportions (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100%) and used to treat tomato plants against nematode infestation. After 10 days of inoculation of second-stage juveniles of M. incognita, several morphological parameters such as root length, shoot length, root weight, shoot weight, number of galls, and number of leaves were evaluated to investigate the plant growth. Various photosynthetic pigments (chlorophyll a and b, total chlorophyll, and carotenoid content) and gaseous exchange parameters (photosynthesis rate, intercellular carbon dioxide intensity, stomatal conductance, and transpiration rate) were also investigated in order to better understand plant respiration and response to nematode stress. In biochemical studies, the protein content and unit activity of antioxidative enzymes such as catalase, superoxide dismutase, guaiacol peroxidase, glutathione-s-transferase, ascorbate peroxidase, and polyphenol oxidase were investigated. The analyses of malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) contents were also performed to examine the stress caused by nematodes and the effect of vermicompost in overcoming that stress. Aside from that, the influence of vermicompost on several bioactive components of plants was investigated by quantifying non-antioxidative enzymes (ascorbic acid, glutathione, and tocopherol levels) and secondary metabolites (total phenolic, total flavonoid, and anthocyanin contents). The results of the foregoing experiments reveal a significant increase in all morphological, biochemical, and photosynthetic parameters except MDA and H2O2, which tend to decrease with increasing vermicompost concentration as compared to untreated and nematode-infected plants. The current study reveals that vermicompost has a high potential for lowering the nematode stress and enhancing plant growth and development through the augmentation of different bioactive components in plants.

Growth, Physiological, and Biochemical Variations in Tomatoes after Infection with Different Density Levels of Meloidogyne enterolobii

“…In this research, proline levels were shown to appear significantly higher in nematode-infected plants. Consistent with the research conducted by Tikoria et al [ 58 ] and Khajuria and Ohri [ 63 ], we also recorded that the proline level increased considerably after the nematode invasion of the tomato plants.…”

“…The findings derived from the current investigation additionally revealed a significant reduction in chlorophyll contents in tomato plants infected with M. enterolobii . In a previous study, the nematode infections in tomato plants reduced or altered photosynthetic pigments in tomato plants [ 58 ]. Chen et al [ 59 ] also determined that the leaf chlorophyll content of rice plants decreased after infection with M. graminicola , with an inoculum density ranging from 500 to 2000 J2s per plant.…”

“…Secondary metabolites are produced by plants as a consequence of nematode infection [ 67 ]. Previous studies demonstrated that these metabolites possess the ability to increase the plant’s defense system and antioxidant properties after being subjected to root-knot nematodes (RKNs) [ 52 , 58 ]. In the present work, it was observed that there was a noteworthy enhancement in the levels of total phenolic, flavonoid, and anthocyanin contents due to an increase in nematode population levels (ranging from 100 to 2000 J2s per plant).…”

Comparative Effectiveness of Filamentous Fungi in Biocontrol of Meloidogyne javanica and Activated Defense Mechanisms on Tomato

“…Likewise, enhanced activities of POD, CAT, and APX were observed in Vicia faba leaves infected with bean yellow mosaic virus, indicating that the ROS-scavenging systems may play an important role in managing the ROS generated in response to pathogens [ 82 ]. In the same context, Tikoria et al [ 93 ] demonstrated that protein content and enzyme activities of CAT, POD, APX, and PPO were shown to be reduced after nematode infestation but enhanced by vermicompost amendment, which played the same role as our BCAs treatments.…”

Application of a Bi-Directional Gated Recurrent Unit Combined with a Recurrent Neural Network Model Based on Fusion Attention Mechanism in Estimating Soil Salinity

“…However, due to the complex factors affecting soil spectra, especially in-situ spectra collected in the field, early work focused on indoor spectra under controlled conditions [19]. However, predicting soil properties directly based on in-situ spectra in the field can save more time and cost [20]. The application of in-situ spectroscopy in the field is imminent [21].…”