Oscheius tipulae in Italy: Evidence of an Alien Isolate in the Integral Natural Reserve of Montecristo Island (Tuscany)

Abstract

Montecristo Island is an integral natural reserve of the Tuscan Archipelago National Park (Central Italy), characterized by a peculiar assemblage of flora and fauna, with several endemic taxa, and also with a high number of alien species. During a soil survey, we found an alien Oscheius tipulae Lam & Webster, 1971 isolate, phylogenetically close to others from South America. In this article, we examined the possible pathways of introduction of this nematode. Because of the high number of alien plants in this protected area and the low desiccation survival ability of O. tipulae, we hypothesized that the presence of this alien nematode isolate may be related to the soil of introduced plants, although historical association with plant-associated invertebrates is also possible. Further studies with more populations and marker molecules are necessary to investigate the distribution of O. tipulae and the possible impact on this natural reserve.Key words: alien nematode isolate, Central Italy, desiccation assay, genetics, nematode introduction.Insular biodiversity is characterized by a peculiar fauna and flora, with high levels of endemism (Whittaker and Fern andez-Palacios, 2007). The Tuscan Archipelago consists of seven major and several minor islands located between Corsica and Tuscan coast. Most of the islands of the Tuscan Archipelago are included, partly or entirely, in the Tuscan Archipelago National Park, established in 1999, while Montecristo Island has been a state natural reserve since 1971. Montecristo Island is one of the most peculiar ones, because it is a biogenetic reserve established in 1971 by a ministerial decree to protect its unique nature. Visitors face many restrictions and this management strategy helped the preservation of a peculiar combination of flora and fauna (http://www.corpoforestale. it). Notwithstanding the rigorous protection, several alien species, both animals and plants, are present in this island, mainly as historical-cultural legacies (http:// www.montecristo2010.it, http://www.restoconlife.eu/).Despite the importance of these islands and the presence of several protected areas, comprehensive projects are currently carried out only for some taxonomic groups (AA. VV., 1976;Cianferoni et al., 2013). Data on nematodes of the Tuscan Archipelago National Park are almost absent. The only available concern is endoparasites, e.g., stomach nematodes of goats, Capra hircus Linnaeus, 1758 (Lucchesi et al., 2011). For this reason, we began a survey of nematodes to fill the gap of the knowledge on these taxa.During a soil survey in Montecristo Island, we found an alien O. tipulae strain, phylogenetically close to the South American ones. Alien species (Scalera and Zaghi, 2004) are present in this area and in the other islands of the Tuscan Archipelago National Park (Mazza et al., 2012;Inghilesi et al., 2013a;Lazzaro et al., 2014). For this reason, several projects were conducted for the eradication of invasive alien species in Europe, as they are recognized to cause heavy impacts o...

Molecular profiling of nematode associates with Rhynchophorus ferrugineus in southern Italy

“…The phylogenetic trees using ITS and D2‐D3 sequences of the Apulian O. tipulae strain grouped the Italian O. tipulae sequences together with the corresponding sequences in the database (100% support) and showed sister relationships with Oscheius onirici (Figure ). Furthermore, our study confirmed the hypothesis of Torrini et al () that all Italian O. tipulae strains could have been introduced from South America in association with plants or insects. Our results clearly prove that Italian O. tipulae strains can be isolated from soil and rotting fruits or found in association with R. ferrugineus .…”

“…The phylogenetic trees using ITS and D2-D3 sequences of the Apulian O. tipulae strain grouped the Italian O. tipulae sequences together with the corresponding sequences in the database (100% support) and showed sister relationships with Oscheius onirici (Figure 2). Furthermore, our study confirmed the hypothesis of Torrini et al (2016) Kanzaki, 2017).…”

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