Screening, isolation and evaluation of a nematicidal compound from actinomycetes against the pine wood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus

BACKGROUND Bursaphelenchus xylophilus is a migratory endoparasitic nematode known to cause severe environmental damage and economic losses in pine forest ecosystems. This present study investigated the nematicidal metabolites of actinomycetes in vitro and evaluated the disease control efficacy of the active compound and metabolites under greenhouse and field conditions. RESULTS Five thousand types of actinobacteria from Korean forest soil samples were screened to identify novel nematicidal agents against the pine wood nematode. Streptomyces sp. AN091965 showed the strongest nematicidal activity. One active compound, spectinabilin, was obtained by nematicidal asssy‐directed fractionation, and it showed significant nematicidal activity against B. xylophilus, with an LC50 value of 0.84 µg mL−1. Spectinabilin effectively suppressed the development of pine wilt disease in 5‐year‐old Pinus densiflora trees, even at 0.9 mg per tree under greenhouse conditions. Moreover, the acetone extract of the active strain's mycelia efficiently suppressed the development of pine wilt disease under field conditions. CONCLUSION To the best of our knowledge, this the first report to describe the nematicidal activity of spectinabilin against B. xylophilus. The cell extracts described herein merit further field studies as potential nematicides against the pine wood nematode. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry This article mainly focuses on screening and isolation of nematicidal subtance from actinomycetes, and a highly active compound, spectinabilin, was obtained from Streptomyces sp. AN091965. In in vitro and in planta experiments, it indicates spectinabilin and the cell extracts of strain AN091965 could be used as a resource for promising nematicides for the management of pine wilt disease.