152 Pak. J. Phytopathol., Vol. 23(2):152-155, 2011. RESPONSE OF SIX EGGPLANT CULTIVARS TO MELOIDOGYNE INCOGNITA Zia Ullah, S. A. Anwar, N. Javed, S.A. Khan, M. Shahid* Department of Plant Pathology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. * Plant Pathology Research Institute, Faisalabad. ABSTRACT An experiment was conducted to find out the host status of six eggplant cultivars against root knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) infection. The seedlings of cultivars namely Bemissal, Nirrala, Purple Queen, Qaiser, VRIB-9901 and VRIB-0401were transplanted in earthen pots containing sterilized soil. Each treatment was replicated five times. Fifteen days after the transplantation, plants were inoculated with 2000 freshly hatched J 2 of M. incognita. The nematode inoculated plants were allowed to grow for 60 days and then harvested. Plants and roots were washed carefully in tap water. The root galling and egg masses were assessed on 0 to 5 scale and J 2 root population was assessed. All the six cultivars were found susceptible based on rate of reproduction of nematodes. VRIB 0401 showed maximum number of galls with galling index of 5 and egg masses with egg mass index of 5 being most susceptible one while Nirrala was found to be less susceptible with minimum number of galls with galling index of 4 and egg masses with egg mass index of 4. None of the cultivar was found resistant to M. incognita. Keywords: Eggplant, Meloidogyne incognita, resistance. INTRODUCTION Brinjal or eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) is a low priced and one of the most commonly grown vegetable crop in Pakistan. The area cultivated under this crop was 9000 hectares with production of 89000 million tons in Pakistan which stands at 18 th position in world ranking (FAO, 2007). It contains sufficient amount of vitamin A and B and also has medicinal value as it is good for diabetic patients. There are various ways to utilize this vegetable, such as fried, baked, grilled or steamed. Dilnasheen, Qaiser, Purple Queen, Cluster king, Bemissal, and Nirrala are important commercially grown varieties in Pakistan. There are several plant parasitic nematodes that cause pathogenic problems on vegetables in Pakistan. Four species of root knot nematode namely, Meloidogyne incognita, M. javanica, M. arenaria, and M. hapla have been recorded (Maqbool, 1986). M. incognita is a major pest of vegetables all over the world particularly in Pakistan (Williamson and Hussey, 1996; Anwar et al., 2007b). It stands out as the dominant group of plant parasitic nematodes in India (Mehrotra, 1983) also the most widespread and economically important in Punjab (Anwar et al., 2007b; Anwar and McKenry, 2010). On global basis, M. incognita has been reported to constitute about 47% of the total root-knot nematodes population (Sasser and Carter, 1985). The occurrence of this species was found to be 85.10% in Punjab (Anwar et al., 2007b) with frequency of (76%) of this nematode infection in Faisalabad (Khan and Ahmad, 2000). Eggplant is severely damaged by M. incognita (Dhawan and Sethi, 1976; Netscher and Sikora, 1990; Anwar et al., 2007b; Anwar and McKenry, 2010). The nematode root infection renders plants unfit to absorb water and nutrients and other essential elements from soil leading to poor plant growth and yield losses (Gowen et al., 2005; Hollis, 1963). This investigation was planned to find the host status of six eggplant cultivars against M. incognita infection. MATERIALS AND METHODS Seeds of eggplant cv. i.e. Bemissal, Nirrala, Purple Queen, Qaiser, VRIB-9901 and VRIB-0401 provided by Vegetable Research Institute Faisalabad were planted in seedling trays. Twenty one-day-seedling was transplanted in 4 inches dia earthen pot containing formalin sterilized soil. Each treatment was replicated five times. Plants were allowed to recover from transplanting shocks for 15 days. Fifteen days after transplantation, the plants were inoculated with 2000 freshly hatched J 2 of M. incognita in 10-ml of water by pouring around each plant by making three holes. The pots were arranged on green house bench in a completely randomized design. Irrigation was done daily throughout the period of studies. Green house temperature ranged between 25-35°C. Growth of plants was observed regularly. After 60 days, plants were harvested from the pots and their roots were gently washed in tap water, dump-dried and weighed. Root systems of the plants were gently cut from the stem and the parameters including number of galls and egg masses Pakistan Journal of Phytopathology Published by: Pakistan Phytopathological Society www.pakps.com www.pjp.pakps.com info@pakps.com