International Journal of Nematology and Entomology

ISSN 2756-3839

International Journal of Nematology and Entomology ISSN 2756-3839 Vol. 12 (2), pp. 001-005, February, 2025. Available online at www.internationalscholarsjournals.org © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Efficacy of Esteya vermicola Isolates in Controlling Pinewood Nematode Infections

Chun Yan Wang, Zhe Ming Fang, Zhen Wang, Li Juan Gu, Bai Shen Sun, Dong Liang Zhang and Chang Keun Sung*

Department of Food Science and Technology, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Chungnam National University, Taejon, 305-764, Korea.

Accepted 08 November, 2024

Esteya vermicola, as the first recorded endoparasitic fungus of pinewood nematode, exhibits high infection activity and shows potential as a biological control agent to combat the devastating pine wilt disease. However, there is still a paucity of data about this rare hyphomycete. In this article, two E. vermicola isolates, CBS 100821 and CBS 115803, were studied in the morphological characteristics and infection activities against pinewood nematode. Although both isolates parasitized the tested nematode, CBS 115803 showed significantly higher infection effectiveness than that of CBS 100821, to kill all the tested nematodes within 3 - 4 days. As to lunate conidia, a novel germination mode was observed and recorded.

Key words: Pinewood nematode, Esteya vermicola, Infection activity, germination mode of conidia.