Background and objectives Root-knot nematodes, spp., have been reported to cause severe losses to field, horticultural, and medicinal plants throughout the world. Chemical nematicides are routinely applied for protection of the aforementioned crops. Residues of these toxic nematicides are carried to the final consumed products, which can be quite hazardous to human health on consumption. Biocontrol by using antagonistic organisms to inhibit the pathogens and reduce diseases is an ecofriendly management tool. Materials and methods Certain rhizobacterial colonies isolated from the rhizosphere soil of cucumber and banana plants were identified by 16S rDNA to (accession number LC187271) and (accession number LC187270). They were manipulated using protoplast fusion technique to improve their nematicidal potentials. The fused protoplasts generated and 10 fusant isolates were assessed against J. Results and conclusion All the tested fusants exhibited increase in their nematicidal activity than their parents against root-knot nematode, J, under laboratory conditions. The percentages of nematode mortality after 72 h of exposure were 85 and 86% by and suspensions, respectively, whereas the percentages of mortality caused by fusants ranged between 91 and 99% as compared with control. The obtained results indicated that protoplast fusion technique is a successful tool to enhance the lethal effect of the isolated rhizobacteria strains against root-knot nematode. The genetically engineered bacteria can play a dual role under field conditions as a biocontrol agent against nematode and subsequently improve plant productivity.
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