Quénéhervé Patrick auteur aut IRD Marie-Luce S. auteur aut IRD Salmon F. auteur aut IRD Barrière V. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf born digital access Xenic culturing of plant-parasitic nematodes is a common laboratory technique to rear individuals on a plant host in a totally controlled environment. In 1999, Reversat et al. replaced sterilized soil by artificial substrate consisting of sand and a water absorbent polymer (SAP) allowing xenic culturing of tropical nematode species even if native soil was not available. The aim of this study was to demonstrate how the use of artificial substrate in xenic culturing can affect the multiplication of the most harmful pests of bananas: the burrowing nematode Radopholus similis and the lesion nematode Pratylenchus coffeae. The effects of native sterilized soil and SAP substrate on the growth of three cultivars of banana and on the multiplication rate of R. similis and P. coffeae were examined. The use of SAP substrate induced a faster development of root and aerial systems of bananas. Depending on cultivar, the population densities of R. similis were 43 to 1,102% higher when grown in SAP substrate than in native sterilized soil. Only in the case of one cultivar, the multiplication of P. coffeae was significantly higher on sterilized soil substrate than on SAP substrate. We conclude that xenic culturing performed with SAP substrate is a very convenient laboratory technique for multiplication of plant-parasitic nematodes in the absence of native soil and a practical way to standardize controlled experimental conditions. specialized Artificial substrate Banana Nematodes Pratylenchus coffeae Radopholus similis Xenic cultivation 076 074 40 2 269-274 2010 0099-5444 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010053414 0099-5444 [F B010053414] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010053414 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/intranet/publi/2011/04/010053414.pdf Accès réservé (Intranet de l'IRD) IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2011-05-02 2017-08-23 fdi:010053414 fre