Host Suitability of Grain Sorghum Cultivars to Meloidogyne spp

Grain sorghum cultivars (Funk G-499GBR, Funk G-611, Funk G-522A, Funk G-522DR, Coker 7723, Coker 7675, Coker 7623, Pioneer B815, Pioneer 8222, Pioneer 8272) were evaluated in the greenhouse for resistance to populations of Meloidogyne incognita race 3, M. arenaria race 2, and M. javanica from South Carolina, and M. arenaria race 1 from Georgia. All the sorghum cultivars were poor hosts or nonhosts of Meloidogyne spp. with fewer than 1 or 2 egg masses per root system in all cultivar x nematode combinations. Sorghum (Coker 7723) planted in a field infested with M. incognita race 3 and M. arenaria race 2 was not galled; however, galling and egg masses were observed on tobacco (Coker 319). Populations of second-stage juveniles at harvest were 2,865 and 72/500 cm(3) soil for the tobacco and sorghum plots, respectively. Sorghum was a poor host of Meloidogyne spp. and may be useful as a rotation crop to reduce populations of root-knot nematodes.