Effects of Pratylenchus coffeae and Scutellonema bradys alone and in combination on guinea yam (Dioscorea rotundata).

When Guinea yam, Dioscorea rotundata Poir, was inoculated with Pratylenchus coffeae and Scutellonema bradys together, there was a 53% suppression of top growth, but when plants were inoculated separately there was a 29% suppression with P. coffeae and a 21% suppression with S. bradys. The reproduction of S. bradys was greatly inhibited when both nematode species were together on the same plant in comparison with that on plants inoculated with S. bradys alone. Scutellonema bradys apparently did not affect the reproduction of P. coffeae. Storage-root quality was reduced 72% by P. coffeae but only 20% by S. bradys. The two species together resulted in a reduction in storage-root quality of 84%. Although the Guinea yam is a good host of P. coffeae and S. bradys, our results indicate that P. coffeae is responsible for most of the storage-root deterioration and dry rot of yam in Puerto Rico.