Lettuce is the main vegetable cultivated in Brazil, in volume and in marketed value. There are ranges of diseases which may affect lettuce crops, including those caused by root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.). We evaluated the reproductive potential of Meloidogyne enterolobii in 22 lettuce cultivars. The plants were inoculated with 5,000 eggs and eventuals second stage juveniles of nematode per pot, two days after the transplanting. 'Rutgers' tomato was used as standard for inoculum viability of M. enterolobii. We evaluated, 60 days after inoculation, the gall index, egg mass index and reproduction factor (RF). The 'Ithaca', 'Raider Plus', 'RS-1397', 'L-104', 'Challenge', 'IP-11', 'Classic', 'Salinas 88', 'Vanguard 75', 'Calona' and 'Desert Queen' were resistant to M. enterolobii with RF varying from 0.22 to 0.9, and the cultivars Lady Winterset, Robinson, Sonoma, Raider, Lucy Brown, Bnondaga, Summer Time, Taina, Sundevil and L-109 were susceptible to this nematode, with RF ranging from 1.06 to 5.73.
Lactuca sativa; root-knot nematodes; plant breeding.
