Three greenhouse experiments and one field experiment were carried out to evaluate the damage caused by the lesion nematode Pratylenchus brachyurus on cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) plants. In the first experiment, three isolates of P. brachyurus (Pb20, Pb21, and Pb22) from different regions of Brazil were inoculated (12,000 nematodes/plant) in plantlets of cotton cv. Delta Opal and Fibermax 966. The initial populations of 3,000 and 12,000 nematodes/plant, and 12,000 and 30,000 nematodes/plant were tested in the second and third experiments, respectively, to evaluate the effect of isolate Pb20 on growth of cotton cv. Delta Opal. The results of experiments 1, 2 and 3 suggest that P. brachyurus is a mild pathogen for cotton, since nematode densities lower than 12,000 did not reduce plant growth. The experiment 4 was conducted in three cotton fields in in the State of Mato Grosso confirmed these results, since no correlation was observed between the root population of P. brachyurus and cotton yield.
Gossypium hirsutum; root lesion nematode; host-parasite relationships
