( key find was that a small amount of sup...)Techniques available to detect soil that inhibits destructive soybean pest

Some types of fungi and other organisms help keep the soil healthy by feeding on nematodes. Whether a field is tilled can affect nematode population density, but it's not yet known whether this is related to a change in the number of nematode-eating microbes, Westphal said. Further study is needed on how microbial communities function in order to determine conditions that contribute to nematode development.

Westphal was able to confirm the nematode supressiveness of soil by using treatments to eliminate soil organisms and other elements that inhibit nematode development. Another confirmation technique was to add suppressive soil to soils conducive to nematode development. The researchers also were able to document reduced nematode reproduction, population density, and whether certain types of soil were suppressive to specific pathogens.

"Currently, we are extending this research to finding ways to create more nematode suppression in soil," Westphal said. "This is important because nematode populations constantly change so they can overcome certain types of resistance, including even plants that are bred to be resistant to the organisms."

Westphal and his research team conducted a survey throughout Indiana to locate nematode-suppressive soils in an effort to make this tool more available and to further study the mechanisms that create its effectiveness against the pathogen.

Soybean cyst nematodes, one of a large, diverse group of multicellular organisms, are the most destructive soybean pathogen in the United States. The nematodes were first documented in Japan in the early 20th century and first reported in the United States in 1954. However, evolutio
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Source:Purdue University