Bioprospecting Compost for Long-Term Control of Plant Parasitic Nematodes.

Many of the microbial antagonists of plant-parasitic nematodes (PPNs)have been found in compost. As such, compost represents a great potential source for bioprospecting microbes capable of controlling PPNs. This is particularly so since most of the estimated billions of microbes per gram of compost (>50K species/g)have not been discovered and/or are not yet cultivable. Moreover, the composting process allows for some degree of manipulation to continuously produce desired microbial species that are often capable of surviving under challenging environmental conditions, such as high soil temperature. Compost also contains a rich diversity of nematode antagonistic compounds (microbial and non-microbial sources), such as humic acids, phenolics and fatty acids, and have been reported to enhance soil resident microbial antagonists, increase plant tolerance and resistance and alter soil physiology profiles, making it unsuitable for nematode survival and activity. Due to its multiple suppression mechanisms, in this chapter, compost is argued to be a great potential source for research aimed at extracting the maximum commercial value from its genetic and biochemical resources, thus making it a more holistic and sustainable approach for managing nematodes rather than a single-type approach, such as the use of synthetic pesticides.