Solanum melongena L. Ecophysiology under the Influence of Meloidogyne javanica

Aim: The purpose herein was to quantify the ecophysiological exchanges of eggplants cv. Embu (Solanum melongena L.) conducted with and without Meloidogyne javanica.

Study Design: The experimental design has completely randomized with two groups of plants (with and without soil infestation) with five replications and two plants per pot (treatment).

Place and Duration of the Study: The experiment has carried out at the Agrarian Sciences Center of the Federal University of Paraíba, Areia, PB, between October to December, 2017.

Methodology: The eggplant cultivar employed was ‘Embu’. Its seedlings were transplanted to 5 dm3 pot, filled with a substrate formulated by the mixture of vegetal soil, sand, and cattle manure in the proportion of 3:1:1.Their growth characteristics were valuated after 60 days of transplant (DAT), when the following variables were measured: plant height; stem diameter; leaf number; flower number; and aerial part, root, and total dry masses; and Dickson quality index. Gas exchange evaluations were performed between 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The level of chlorophyll under fluorescence emission was measured several times.

Results: There was no significant difference for the variables, growth, fluorescence and chlorophyll between plants with and without M. javanica inoculation, which proved that they were resistant to the population level to which they were encountered. Plants inoculated with M. javanica, there was a greater increase of the CO2 assimilation rate and in the carboxylation efficiency.

Conclusion: Therefore, we can say that these plants have mechanisms to control their photosynthetic activities, which make them resistant to M. javanica stress, avoiding growth damages.