Rhizoctonia Solani and Meloidogyne Incognita Interaction On Chile Pepper (Capsicum annuum).

Rhizoctonia solani and Meloidogyne incognita are two soil microorganisms associated with yield reduction in chile (Capsicum annuum). Both pathogens can infect a single plant and kill chile. Our hypothesis investigated whether R. solani and M. incognita have a synergistic effect on chile. Four green house studies examined the interaction of R. solani and M. incognita on chile. Chile plants were grown in pots filled with pasteurized soil.  In the first two experiments, soils were inoculated with each pathogen concomitantly. And in the second two experiments, soils were inoculated with each pathogen sequentially. In all experiments, M. incognita was inoculated at rate of 5,000 eggs per plant and R. solani was inoculated at rate of five pellets (1 cm in diameter) of R. solani grown on acidified potato dextrose agar. The frequency of recovery of R. solani from root segments, M. incognita egg counts and reproduction factor, dry biomass of plant above ground parts, and plant physiological measurements were measured for chile in concomitant experiments at three different times after soil inoculation. The same measurements in addition to frequency of recovery of R. solani from stem segments, plant heights, and fruit numbers were measured for chile in sequential experiments at the end of experiments. Generally, there were no significant effects of the interaction treatment for all measurements in the concomitant experiments. Higher frequencies of R. solani were observed for treatments inoculated with fungus, and higher M. incognita egg counts and reproduction factor were observed for treatments inoculated with root knot nematode eggs. Results suggest that a synergistic effect between R. solani and M. incognita does not exist.