The Effects of soil microbiomes on preventing nematode damage to rice plants

Meloidogyne graminicola (Mg), commonly named the rice Root-Knot Nematode (RKN), is one of the most prevalent plant parasitic nematodes in rice agroecosystems while sustainable agriculture practices to treat the RKN are still limited. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of soil microbiomes extracted from different agricultural practices (CA, CAU, CT) in reducing RKN damage to rice plants. Soil microbiomes were isolated from the soil samples collected in Preah Vihear and Kampong Thom province of Cambodia in order to test the effectiveness of the microbiota against Mg on rice plants (Variety IR64). The experiment was conducted in test tubes using sterilized sand to grow rice and 250 juveniles (J2) were used to infect each tube. Three treatments were set up: 1) tubes infected with 25ml of microbiome suspensions from non-sterilized soil (M);2) infected 25 ml of microbiomes from sterilized soil (ST); 3) control with only J2(CTL). After 3 weeks of infection, rice plants were examined under microscopes to measure number of nematodes (J2 and eggs). The results showed that the number of nematodes was significantly higher under treatment ST (230±100.132) compared to treatment M (159±64.41). The data demonstrated that soil microbiomes in CA were effective in reducing RKN damage to rice roots, which would be operated as a biological control to lower RKN in rice plants. However, further research is required to make the assessment of the effects of microbiomes on rice development and yield, and the taxa of beneficial microbiomes the most beneficial to rice growth.