First report of cultivated Cretan mountain tea (Sideritis syriaca) as a host of Meloidogyne hapla and M. javanica in Crete, with some additional records on the occurrence of Meloidogyne species in Greece

Abstract

Cultivated Cretan mountain tea or Malotira (Sideritis syriaca L.) was found to be infected by Meloidogyne hapla and Meloidogyne javanica in the island of Crete. The authors provide the first molecular characterization of M. hapla in Greece and the first report of Cretan mountain tea or Malotira as a host of Meloidogyne species worldwide. In addition, Meloidogyne hispanica was found infecting aloe (Andros island) and corn (Drama, North Greece) consisting the first reports of natural infection of these plants by M. hispanica in Europe. Furthermore, infection of corn by M. incognita and soybean by M. javanica (Drama, North Greece) are reported for the first time in Greece. Integrative taxonomical approach based on perineal pattern and EP/ st ratio, as well as the region of the mitochondrial genome between the cytochrome oxidase subunit II (coxII) and 16S rRNA mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genes was used to differentiate Meloidogyne species.

First report of Seville root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne hispanica (Nematoda: Meloidogynidae) in the USA and North America

“…Reproduction of M. hispanica was previously evaluated on 63 cultivated host plants, revealing a broad host range ( Maleita et al, 2012a, 2012b ). Meloidogyne hispanica was most recently reported on corn in Greece in 2017 ( Tzortzakakis et al, 2019 ) and on sunflower in Greece in 2013 ( Tzortzakakis et al, 2014 ). The threat of damage caused by M. hispanica to corn or other susceptible crops in the U.S. remains to be determined but could become significant if present under drought conditions.…”

Lavandula angustifolia and Oxalis pes-caprae, hosts of Meloidogyne hapla and Meloidogyne javanica - A note for Meloidogyne luci in Greece

“…This species has been previously reported in Greece based only on morphological identifi cation characteristics (Hirschman et al, 1966;Koliopanos, 1980;Pyrowolakis, 1980;Vovlas and Antoniou, 1987;Vlachopoulos, 1994). Recently it was found in Crete infecting the mountain tea variety "Malotira" (Sideritis syriaca L.) and that was the fi rst molecular identifi cation of this species in Greece (Tzortzakakis et al, 2019). The current work represents the fi rst report of natural infestation of cultivated lavender by M. hapla in Greece.…”

“…oidogyne hapla Chitwood, 1949, Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid & White) Chitwood, 1949 and Meloidogyne javanica (Treub) Chitwood, 1949), Meloidogyne luci (Carneiro, Correa, Almeida, Gomes, Mohammad Deimi, Castagnone -Sereno & Karssen, 2014) (initially identifi ed as Meloidogyne ethiopica Whitehead, 1968) and Meloidogyne hispanica (Hirschmann, 1986) have been identifi ed in Greece using molecular and/or biochemical markers (Conceição et al, 2012;Tzortzakakis et al, 2011Tzortzakakis et al, , 2014Tzortzakakis et al, , 2016Tzortzakakis et al, , 2019Gerič Stare et al, 2017).…”