LAUSR

ABSTRACT Root-knot nematodes cause great damage to vegetable crops in Brazil, besides having a large range of host plants, such as weeds. Weeds can maintain the inoculums or even favor the multiplication of these nematodes. In this study we evaluated the reaction of selected weed species, present in a vegetable production area, to root-knot nematodes Meloidogyne incognita and M. enterolobii. The trials were conducted in a greenhouse at Embrapa Hortaliças, Brasília-DF, in a completely randomized design with six replicates. Fifteen weed species were evaluated for M. incognita race 1, and 16 weed species were evaluated for M. enterolobii. Two tomato cultivars were evaluated as resistance and susceptibility standards. Gall index (IG), egg mass index (IMO), number of eggs per gram of roots (eggs/g roots) and reproduction factor (FR) were evaluated. M. enterolobii survives and multiplies more easily in weeds collected in vegetable production areas than M. incognita race 1 and, the great majority of weed species evaluated in this study are hosts of both nematode species. Only the species Urena lobata, Sonchus oleraceus, Euphorbia heterophylla, Melampodium perfoliatum and Tagetes sp. were immune to M. incognita race 1. All evaluated species are either hosts or favor the multiplication of M. enterolobii. The species which are the most susceptible to M. incognita race 1, and therefore require greater control of crops infected by this nematode are Ipomoea nil, I. triloba and Eleusine indica, and for M. enterolobii are I. nil, Solanum americanum, Hyptis suaveolens, Portulaca oleracea, I. triloba and Euphorbia heterophylla.