Eco. Env. & Cons. 28 (December Suppl. Issue) : 2022; pp. (S149-S153) Copyright@ EM International ISSN 0971–765X Parasitism of Meloidogyne incognita eggs by Native Fungi of Assam Uday Kurulkar* and Bhabesh Bhagawati Department of Nematology, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, Assam, India (Received 14 July, 2022; Accepted 5 September, 2022) ABSTRACT In the current investigation, four fungi viz., Paecilomyces niphetodes, Acremonium falciforme, Fusarium oxysporium, and F. solani were capable of parasitizing Meloidogyne incognita eggs. The high percentage of egg parasitism was recorded by P. niphetodes. Microscopic examinations showed that the hyphae of P. niphetode, A. falcifrome, F. oxysporum and F. solani were closely attached to the egg surface of the parasitized eggs, made perforations, penetrated, ramified, and completely fed upon the internal content of the eggs. The parasitization of the second stage juvenile that emerged from the eggs by P. niphetodes and A. falciforme was seen. Whereas, A. falcifrome, F. oxysporum, and F. solani established as dormant spores inside or outside of M. incognita eggs. Key words : P. niphetodes, A. falcifrome, F. oxysporum and F. solani, Egg parasitism, M. incognita. Introduction More than 2,000 plant species have been attacked by root-knot nematodes, which contributed to 5% of the world’s crop losses (Hussey and Jansma, 1988). In Assam, M. incognita reduced tomato, okra, and brinjal yield by 13.20, 15.80-17.80, and 27.30 percent, respectively (Anonymous, 2011 and Bhatti, 1994). The application of chemical nematicides will be se- verely prohibited due to environmental damage, animal welfare, and the development of resistance among the target pathogens. The use of bioagents has been demonstrated to provide an effective, safe, long-lasting, and natural robust protection against nematode pests (Anita and Samiyappan, 2012). Meloidogyne spp. in soil is openly attacked by natu- ral enemies (Kok et al., 2001) and such enemies can be exploited as bioagents for successful control of Meloidogyne spp. (Karssen et al., 2006). Among the natural enemies, fungi are more wide-ranging and saprophytic in nature. These fungi could be oppor- tunistic and capable of showing antagonistic behav- ior, such as predation, parasitism, and antibiosis against plant pathogenic nematodes (Cayrol, 1983; Zaki, 1994; Kalita et al., 2012 and Kurulkar, 2017). These fungi have the ability to produce antibiot- ics, metabolites, protease enzymes, and other com- pounds in the environment, which has a negative impact on nematode viability (Blaxster and Robertson, 1998 and Sharon, 2001). The potency of bioagents was reported to vary from species to spe- cies by Irving and Kerry (1986). Utilizing native biocontrol agents is one method of enhancing the potential of bioagents (Singh et al., 2013). In order to employ effective native biocontrol agent (s), the pos- sible advantages and fit fall must be studied. There- fore, research on the fugal parasitism of Meloidogyne incognita eggs was conducted. Material and Methods In the current study, the fungi viz ., Fusarium oxysporium, Paecilomyces niphetodes, Acremonium DOI No.: http://doi.org/10.53550/EEC.2022.v28i08s.024