Reproduction of Meloidogyne incognita on either Capsicum annuum or Glycine max was suppressed when infective second-stage juveniles (J2) were exposed to 0.03 mM benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) for 2 h prior to inoculation of the host. Infectivity as rated by a gall index was significantly reduced on both G. max and C. annuum. In C. annuum, nematode egg masses were recovered from 48% of the plants inoculated with BITC-treated J2 compared with 98% for the controls, and egg mass scores were reduced.

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... gg mass production was reduced in C. annuum by 69% and mean total eggs/plant was reduced by 97% in G. max. When plants were inoculated with treated J2, two measures of plant health, root weight and shoot weight, were reduced in C. annuum but not in G. max. However, root and shoot weights were not correlated with egg production for either host plant, irrespective of treatment. There were strong interactions between egg production, as measured by mean total eggs/plant (G. max) or mean total eggs/egg mass (C. annuum), and hatching of J2 from eggs obtained from all combinations of plant host and J2 treatment. Hatch of J2 from eggs obtained from G. max was significantly lower when plants had been inoculated with BITC-treated J2 than when plants had been inoculated with control J2. Such effects were not observed with C. annuum. BITC may have important residual consequences on the progeny of M. incognita not directly exposed to the chemical.