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The corn cyst nematode Heterodera zeae was detected in soil from an organic maize field in northern Greece. In greenhouse studies, reproduction of H. zeae was detected on maize plants (Zeae mays) using soil high in organic matter; the field was under winter fallow at the time of sampling. Maize plants were grown in a greenhouse with soil from the affected field used as inoculum. Females appeared after six weeks incubation, and abundant cysts were present after 12 weeks. Morphological and molecular diagnosis confirmed the presence of H. zeae in the field. Cysts were identified on the basis of cyst shape and characteristics of the cyst terminal cone, including nature of fenestration, presence of bullae, cyst wall pattern, and fenestral diameter. Second-stage juveniles were identified by body and stylet length, the shape of stylet knobs, shape and length of the tail and hyaline tail terminus, and by the number of lateral lines. Molecular analysis included amplification of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS 1&2 rDNA) 28S large ribosomal subunit (LSU) D2-D3 expansion segment, and partial 18S small ribosomal subunit (SSU). Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of ITS rDNA exhibited several unique enzyme patterns that may be diagnostically useful for H. zeae. These findings are in agreement with prior analysis of H. zeae populations from the U.S. and India. Phylogenetic relationships inferred from ITS rDNA are congruent with previous analyses that placed H. zeae in a clade with H. turcomanica, H. salixophila and species of the Humuli group. Phylogenetic trees based upon heat shock protein (Hsp90) coding sequence were in general agreement with a prior study using the same marker. This study represents the first record of H. zeae in Greece and the second report of this nematode in Europe.

Three stunt nematode species, Tylenchorhynchus leviterminalis, T. dubius and T. claytoni were characterized with segments of small subunit 18S and large subunit 28S rDNA sequence and placed in molecular phylogenetic context with other polyphyletic taxa of Telotylenchidae. Based upon comparably sized phylogenetic breadth of outgroups and ingroups, the 28S rDNA contained three times the number of phylogenetically informative alignment characters relative to the alignment total compared to the larger 18S dataset even though there were fewer than half the number of taxa represented. Tail shapes and hyaline termini were characterized for taxa within these subfamily trees, and variability discussed for some related species. In 18S trees, similar terminal tail thickness was found in a well-supported clade of three Tylenchorhynchus: broad-tailed T. leviterminalis branched outside relatively narrow-tailed T. claytoni and T. nudus. Terminal tail thickness within Merliniinae, Telotylenchinae and related taxa showed a mosaic distribution. Thick-tailed Trophurus, Macrotrophurus and putative Paratrophurus did not group together in the 18S tree. Extremely thickened tail termini arose at least once in Amplimerlinius and Pratylenchoides among ten species of Merliniinae plus three Pratylenchoides, and three times within twelve taxa of Telotylenchinae and Trophurinae. Conflicting generic and family nomenclature based on characters such as pharyngeal overlap are discussed in light of current molecular phylogeny. Contrary to some expectations from current taxonomy, Telotylenchus and Tylenchorhynchus cf. robustus did not cluster with three Tylenchorhynchus spp. Two putative species of Neodolichorhynchus failed to group together, and two populations of Scutylenchus quadrifer demonstrated as much or greater genetic distance between them than among three related species of Merlinius.

The identity of a newly discovered population of pale potato cyst nematode Globodera pallida associated with potato in eastern Idaho was established by morphological and molecular methods. Morphometrics of cysts and second-stage juveniles were generally within the expected ranges for G. pallida with some variations noted. The Idaho population and paratype material from Epworth, Lincolnshire, England, both showed variations in tail shape, with bluntly rounded to finely pointed tail termini. Compared to literature values for the paratypes, second-stage juveniles of the Idaho population had a somewhat shorter mean body length, and cysts had a slightly higher mean distance from the anus to the nearest edge of the fenestra. PCR-RFLP of the rDNA ITS region, sequence-specific multiplex PCR and DNA sequence comparisons all confirmed the identity of the Idaho population as G. pallida. The ITS rDNA sequence of the Idaho isolate was identical to those from York, England, and the Netherlands. Species-specific primers that can positively identify the tobacco cyst nematode Globodera tabacum were also developed, providing a new assay for distinguishing this species from G. pallida and the golden potato cyst nematode Globodera rostochiensis.

A root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne floridensis n. sp., is described and illustrated from peach originally collected from Gainesville, Florida. This new species resembles M. incognita, M. christiei, M. graminicola, and M. hispanica, but with LM and SEM observations it differs from these species either by the body length, shape of head, tail and tail terminus of second-stage juveniles, body length and shape of spicules in males, and its distinctive female perineal pattern. This pattern has a high to narrowly rounded arch with coarsely broken and network-like striae in and around anal area, faint lateral lines interrupting transverse striae, a sunken vulva and anus, and large distinct phasmids. Molecular data from ribosomal IGS illustrate that M. floridensis n. sp. is different from the mitotic species M. arenaria, M. incognita, and M. javanica. Data from RAPDs confirm it and suggest that this new species lies in an intermediate phylogenetic position between the previous species and the meiotic species M. hapla, M. fallax, and M. chitwoodi. Differential host tests based on annual crops and on Prunus accessions are reported.

Surveys were conducted in Alexandria, El-Behera, and Matrouh Governorates in northwestern Egypt during the 1994-1998 cropping seasons to study the occurrence, population density, host associations, and distribution of phytoparasitic nematodes associated with 35 major crops, grasses, and weeds. A total of 220 soil and root samples containing mixed populations of 26 genera and 38 species of phytoparasitic nematodes was analyzed; three known genera and 13 known species are reported for the first time in northwestern Egypt. Root-knot nematodes with 34 occurrences were the most frequently encountered group of nematodes, followed by spiral, stunt, ring, lesion, lance, and dagger nematodes with 19, 18, 15, 9, 8, and 7 occurrences, respectively. New species records are Boleodorus pakistanensis, Criconemella sphaerocephala, Discocriconemella sphaerocephaloides, Hemicriconemoides cocophilus, Hemicycliophora thienmanni, Hoplolaimus clarissimus, Irantylenchus clavidorus, Merlinius nanus, Paratylenchus projectus, Tylenchorhynchus ebriensis, Tylenchus afghanicus, T. exiguus, Xiphinema basilgoodeyi, and X. ensiculiferum. Survey results showed new host plant records for most of the identified nematode species in Egypt.

The efficacy of clean fallow, bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) as a rotational crop, and fenamiphos for control of root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita race 1) and soilborne fungi in okra (Hibiscus esculentus), snapbean (Phaseolus vulgaris), and pepper (Capsicum annuum) production was evaluated in field tests from 1993 to 1995. Numbers of M. incognita in the soil and root-gall indices were greater on okra than on snapbean or pepper. Application of fenamiphos at 6.7 kg a.i./ha did not suppress numbers of nematodes on any sampling date when compared with untreated plots. The lack of efficacy could be the result of microbial degradation of the nematicide. Application of fenamiphos suppressed root-gall development on okra following fallow and 1-year sod in 1993, but not thereafter. A few galls were observed on roots of snapbean following 2- and 3-year fallow but none following 1-, 2-, and 3-year bermudagrass sod. Population densities of Pythium aphanidermatum, P. myriotylum, and Rhizoctonia solani in soil after planting vegetables were suppressed by 2- or 3-year sod compared with fallow but were not affected by fenamiphos. Yields of snapbean, pepper, and okra did not differ between fallow and 1-year sod. In the final year of the study, yields of all crops were greater following 3-year sod than following fallow. Application of fenamiphos prior to planting each crop following fallow or sod did not affect yields.

Nematodes are microscopic worms that feed on plant roots and cause global crop losses exceeding $100 billion annually. Lesion nematodes are one of the most economically destructive groups of plant-parasitic nematodes. A major problem with determining the extent of crop loss due to lesion nematodes is that the nematodes present in many areas are unknown. In this study, researchers from Italy in collaboration with an ARS scientist from Beltsville, Maryland describe and illustrate one new species of lesion nematodes from lentil in Sicily, Italy. Methods for identifying the new species were developed and were based on anatomical features obtained with light microscopes, as well as DNA sequence data and host range tests. The results are significant because they provide valuable details that allow this new species to be identified. This research will be of use to scientists, growers, action agencies and extension agencies involved in nematode research and control.