The utilization of microorganisms for biological control of plant diseases has been studied in the world. In soybean cyst nematode (Heterodera glycines), an important diseases in soybeans, biological control strategies are important tools mostly because the lack of an efficient chemical control. The effect of Bacillus subtilis on H. glycines was studied on greenhouse and laboratory experiments. The presence of B. subtilis reduced the number of appeared H. glycines eggs when under stimulus of soybean exudes. Also, treatment of soybean roots with B. subtilis inhibited the juvenile larvae of H. glycines migration towards the soybean roots. In greenhouse experiments using soil infested with eggs of H. glycines, a reduction in the number of females was observed in the soybean root when both soil and seeds were previously treated with either wettable powder or solution containing B. subtilis. Considering the results of this research, and that H. glycines depends on plant exude for show up and orientation of larvae, it can be assumed that B. subtilis might interfere in the nematode life cicle.
Heterodera glycines; Bacillus subtilis; soybean
