''Mononchoides fortidens,'' of the order

Diplogasterida Diplogasterida was an order of nematodes. It was sometimes placed in a monotypic subclass Diplogasteria, but molecular phylogenetic evidence has shown it to be embedded in the family Rhabditidae (formerly Rhabditina). The confusion of having a h ...

, is a free-living predacious

nematode The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-Parasitism, parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhab ...

that feeds on both nematodes and bacteria ''. ''The predatory behavior of this nematode presents the opportunity to use it as a bio-control agent against other plant parasitic nematodes. It has been shown to have a preference for the second stage juveniles of ''

Meloidogyne incognita ''Meloidogyne incognita'' (root-knot nematode - RKN), also known as the "southern root-nematode" or "cotton root-knot nematode" is a plant-parasitic roundworm in the family Heteroderidae. This nematode is one of the four most common species world ...

''.

Distribution and morphology

''M. fortidens'' may be found in decomposing organic manure. Morphological features include lips with setose papillae, large amphid apertures, and a mobile claw-like tooth. The female is diovarial and amphidelphic, while the male is without bursa and has nine pairs of genital papillae. The tails of both the male and female are filiform

Predatory behavior

''M. fortidens'' prefers small, slow moving prey. Once they’ve pierced the cuticle, they feed by cutting and sucking or swallowing their prey whole. They have also been shown to aggregate and feed from prey in groups. This positive aggregation response may be in part due to prey secretions/attractions that ''M. fortidens'' senses. Other factors affecting attraction include prey number, temperature, starvation, and distance between predator and prey. Bilgrami and Jairajpuri found that attraction to prey improved when prey number increased and when ''M. fortidens'' was starved for 12 days. Predation of ''

'' by ''M. fortidens'' plateaued at temperatures between 30 and 35°C

Bio-control applications

The use of predatory nematodes as a

biological control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, such as insects, mites, weeds, and plant diseases, using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms, but typically also invo ...

agent for plant-parasitic nematodes was suggested by Cobb. ''M. fortidens'' is a reasonable choice for bio-control due to its short life cycle and easy culturability. ''M. fortidens'' was used in experiments investigating their potential as a bio-control for the root-knot nematode ''

Meloidogyne arenaria ''Meloidogyne arenaria'' is a species of plant pathogenic nematodes. This nematode is also known as the ''peanut root knot nematode''. The word "''Meloidogyne''" is derived from two Greek words that mean "apple-shaped" and "female".Howard Ferris ...

'' in tomato. Khan and Kim found that the final population of ''M. arenaria'' decreased exponentially with increasing application densities of ''M. fortidens''. When pots were treated with ''M. fortidens'' 7 days prior to planting, plant growth increased while root galling and final populations of ''M. arenaria'' decreased significantly

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q50409695 Rhabditida Nematodes described in 1951