Each year, plant-parasitic nematodes cause billions of dollars in economic injury by damaging crops and reducing yields; of particular concern are the soybean cyst nematode (Heterodera glycines, SCN) and root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.). As the EPA has slowly phased out the use of the ozone-depleting methyl bromide as a soil fumigant, there are few remaining effective chemical technologies to combat nematodes, and many of these, including aldicarb, chloropicrin, and 1,3-dichloropropene, are toxic to mammals. While a few new chemical and biological methods have been developed to reduce the nematode burden on crops, there is still a significant need for new technologies in this area. To develop a new class of potential nematicides, we first screened a panel of small molecules derived from plant essential oils against SCN to determine their potential to inhibit in vitro egg hatch, a potential weak point in the life cycle of this nematode. Several diverse sets of analogs were then synthesized from these initial leads; these compounds were also assessed for their ability to inhibit egg hatching in SCN. Additionally, an assay was used to evaluate the potential of these compounds to prevent M. incognita parasitism of cucumber plants, while a microplate assay using Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism was developed to screen potential nematicides with greater throughput. Several synthetic compounds were lethal to C. elegans at concentrations below 10 ppm; these compounds were also highly inhibitory to SCN egg hatch and M. incognita infection rates.

Combatting plant-parasitic nematodes with biorational pesticides

2019 Fall National Meeting

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