Investment

This research project is divided into two parts. In the first part, the aim is to address the identity of root-lesion nematode (RLN) populations present in the WA wheatbelt, with a focus on determining whether populations identified as P. quasitereoides may have been misidentified and are in fact P. curvicauda. In the second part, the aim is to lay the foundations to develop a new approach to control root-lesion nematodes in grain crops by analysing how and why they are attracted to their plant hosts.

The outcomes will (i) answer the question of whether the RLNs identified in the WA Wheatbelt, are P. quasitereoides or have been misidentified and are P. curvicauda (Begum et al., 2019), (ii) provide additional information on their distribution in the WA Wheatbelt, which will help improve their control by conventional means, and (iii) provide new information on how these RLNs find their host plant roots, which may lead to new methods of their control.