The role of nematodes, fungi, bacteria, and abiotic factors in the etiology of apple replant problems in the Granite Belt of Queensland

Abstract

Investigations of apple replant failure in the Granite Belt suggested that the problem had a complex etiology. Soil fertility was an important factor because apple seedlings grew best in replant soils with high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Consistent improvements in the growth of apple seedlings were obtained when typical orchard soils were treated with fenamiphos, confirming that lesion nematode was also an important component of the disease complex. Pratylenchus penetrans had been recognised as a pathogen of apples, and pathogenicity tests showed that P. jordanensis, another species widely distributed in the Granite Belt, had similar effects. Growth responses of apple seedlings were greater when soil was pasteurised than when it was treated with fenamiphos, suggesting that root pathogens other than nematodes were involved in apple replant failure. However, the primary cause probably differed between orchards because soils did not respond in the same manner to pasteurisation and nematicide treatments. Pathogenicity tests with 14 bacteria associated with apple roots showed no effect on the growth of apple seedlings. However, Fusarium tricinctum, Cylindrocarpon destructans, and Pythium sp. were implicated in the problem because they were consistently recovered from discoloured roots. In a factorial experiment involving nematodes and fungi in pots, P. jordanensis, P. penetrans, E. tricinctum, and C. destructans reduced the dry weight of apple roots but there was no interaction between nematodes and fungi.