Available online at www.notulaebiologicae.ro Not Sci Biol, 2012, 4(1):xx-xx Print ISSN 2067-3205; Electronic 2067-3264 Notulae Scientia Biologicae Impact of Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers on Nematode Reproduction and Biochemical Alterations on Tomato Ahmed A. FARAHAT 1 , Alsayed A. ALSAYED 1 , Hossam S. EL-BELTAGI 2 *, Nomair M. MAHFOUD 1 1 Cairo University, Faculty of Agriculture, Zoology and Agricultural Nematology Deptartment, Cairo, Egypt 2 Cairo University, Faculty of Agriculture, Biochemistry Deptartment, P. Box 12613, Gamma St, Giza, Cairo, Egypt; lbltg@yahoo.com (*corresponding author) Abstract he organic amendments, compost, neem and poultry as well as inorganic fertilizer, N P K and nematicide Nemacur 10% G applied singly at two diferent doses were efective in reducing M. incognita number of galls, nematode reproduction and fecundity. Also, they ameliorated growth criteria of treated tomato plants. he efectiveness seemed to be material origin and concentration dependent. Neem, compost 1, 3 at higher doses (5 g/pot) gave the best results. Yet, achieved results were less than those of nemacur 10% G which overmatched all the organic and inorganic fertilizers. Nematode infection reduced total soluble sugars in roots but the opposite was the case in all treatments. Nematode infection supported root contents of amino acids, total phenols and tannins but they were diminished as a result of almost all treatments. Total soluble sugars and total carbohydrates in shoots decreased as a result of nematode infection but they were regained only by application of inorganic fertilizer. Total amino acids increased in shoots of infected plants and more increase was observed in almost all treatments. Nematode infection impaired tomato uptake of N, P, K; organic and inorganic fertilizers provoked plants up take, however nemacur improved plants up take of nitrogen only. Keywords: Meloidogyne incognita, organic fertilizers, inorganic fertilizers, biochemical alterations Introduction Application of organic matter to the soil is known to have beneicial efects on soil nutrition, soil physical con- ditions, soil biological activities and crop performance (Ef- thimiadou et al., 2010). In addition, these materials have also been investigated as an alternative method of nema- tode management (Akhtar and Mahmood, 1996). Plants grown in soil that is high in organic matter oten are less damaged by nematodes than plants grown in soil with less organic matter content (Al-Rehiayani, 2001; Ethimiadou et al., 2009). Any kind of organic soil amendment includ- ing compost can both improve tolerance of plant to nema- todes and also reduce nematode populations. However, they cannot magically eliminate a severe nematode infes- tation overnight. hey are better suited to keep nematode population relatively low than reducing high ones (Crow and Dunn, 1994). Reductions in population densities of phytoparasitic nematodes in response to application of animal-culture manure especially poultry droppings and their positive efects on host growth have been reported in many studies (Ahmad and Siddiqui, 2009; Farahat et al., 1999). Neem, Azadirachta indica as a potanical material has been reported to posses nematotoxic activity due the content of limonoids and azadrachtin (Strilling, 1991). Addition of neem to the soil depressed phytonematodes populations (Anjum et al., 1996). here has been consid- erable progress in the use of compost as soil amendment for the control of plant parasitic nematodes in infested ields (Akhtar and Malik, 2000; McSorley et al., 1999; Zhang and Zhang, 2009). he research approach of using inorganic fertilizers to diminish nematodes and maximize the beneits of fertilizer started in 1955, when Oteifa reported that ammonia de- creased the counts of M. incognita females and eggmasses produced on infected lima beans. Many reports have been published dealing with that ield of study (Akhtar et al., 1998; Kheir et al., 2009; Oteifa, 1955; Sinha and Neog, 2003). Chemical alterations in plant tissues due to root-knot nematode infection had been extensively studied. Such alterations included total and reduced sugars, total carbo- hydrates, total, soluble and insoluble protein and amino acids, phenols, fatty acids as well as minerals in diferent host plants (Alam et al., 1976; Farahat et al., 2007; Jain and Kant, 1991; Nasr et al., 1980; Parveen et al., 2006; Sharma and Trivedi, 1997; Shuying and Zhixin, 1999). he aim of current study was to investigate the impact of organic and inorganic fertilizers on nematode repro- duction and its efects on the biochemical constitutes on tomato. Materials and methods One month old tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) seedlings cv. ‘GS’ with uniform size were transplanted sin- Received 22 September 2011; accepted 12 January 2011