A total of 52 Egyptian rhizosphere fluorescent pseudomonad isolates (ERFP) were screened for their nematicidal activity in vitro. The screening results showed an inhibitory effect on hatching of Meloidogyne incognita eggs ranging from 57 % to 100 %. Similar to the chemical nematicide Videt in vitro experiment, cultures or cell-free supernatants (CFS) of the ERFP isolates showed complete inhibition of egg hatching and killed 100 % of the J 2 . In glasshouse pot experiments, cultures of these isolates, CFS and the chemical nematicide showed reduction in root galling ranging from 81. 0-95.4, 61.3-84.5, 97.3%, respectively. Also, the reduction in nematode multiplication in soil was 91. 9-95.7, 83.5-84.5 and 96.5% for cultures, CFS and the chemical nematicide, respectively, compared to the positive control (nematode only). Furthermore, these isolates showed significant increases in plant growth characters, phenolic content and activities of the plant defense-related enzymes. Based on 16S rDNA sequences and API NE kits, two major clusters were observed; strains Ps 36 and Ps 54 appeared to fall within the variability range of P. putida, while Ps 21, Ps 22 and Ps 14 are likely to be strains of P. aeruginosa. The distinctness of Ps 36 and Ps 54 from Ps 14, Ps 21 and Ps 22 was supported by their physiological characteristics, such as the ability of Ps 14 and Ps 21 and Ps 22 to utilize mannitol, N-acetyl-glucose amine and adipate. Johnsen et al. [14]. DNA 16S region amplification was performed using the primer set 16SF-16SR [15]. The 16S rDNA was sequenced as described by Sanger et al. [16]. The 16S rDNA sequences were initially analyzed by using the program Blast (National Center Biotechnology Information, http//:www.ncbi.nml.nih.gov). Sequencing data obtained from different primers were collected together using the CAP program (Contig Assembly and Genomic Expression programs). The consensus sequence from the isolates and sequences of strains belonging to the same phylogenetic group and of other representatives of Pseudomonas strains (retrieved from the NCBI database) were aligned using the computer-program ClustalX [17]. The resulting trees were displayed with Tree View [18]. The phylogenetic tree was calculated using the neighbor-joining method [19] and Acinetobacter calcoaceticus and E. coli K12 were used as outgroups.
Preparation of bacterial inocula and their cell -free culture supernatants (CFS)The pseudomonad isolates were grown separately for 36 h in King's B medium broth at 28°C on a rotary shaker at 150 rpm. Part of the cultures was kept without centrifugation for use at 4°C. The bacterial cultures mixture was prepared by mixing equal volumes of cell suspension of individual isolates. For preparation of cell-free culture filtrate, the other part of the bacterial cultures were centrifuged at 5,000 x g for 30 min; pellets were discarded and the supernatants were filtered through bacterial filter (0.22μm pore size) and kept for use at 4°C.
Preparation of nematode inoculaA population of the root-knot nemat...