Morphological and Molecular Identification of Longidorus euonymus and Helicotylenchus multicinctus from the Rhizosphere of Grapevine and Banana in Greece

Abstract

Plant-parasitic nematodes such as Longidorus euonymus and Helicotylenchus multicintctus are species widely distributed in central Europe as well as in Mediterranean area. In Greece, both species have been previously reported but no morphometrics or molecular data were available for these species. Nematode surveys in the rhizosphere of grapevines in Athens carried out in 2016 and 2017, yielded a Longidorus species identified as Longidorus euonymus. Similarly, a population of Helicotylenchus multicinctus was detected infecting banana roots from an outdoor crop in Tertsa, Crete. For both species, morphometrics and molecular data of Greek populations were provided, resulting in the first integrative identification of both nematode species based on morphometric and molecular markers, confirming the occurrence of these two nematodes in Greece as had been stated in earlier reports.

An integrative approach to the study of Helicotylenchus (Nematoda: Hoplolaimidae) Colombian and Brazilian populations associated with Musa crops

“…In relation to H. multicinctus , it is considered the most limiting species of Helicotylenchus in plantain and banana. It was present in the Musa crop production of both Colombia and Brazil, confirming the wide distribution of this plant-parasitic nematode, which also has been previously registered in Puerto Rico, Vietnam, India, Mexico, and Greece ( Ngoc Chau et al, 1997 ; Ravichandra, 2014 ; Lara et al, 2016 ; Tzortzakakis et al, 2017 ). The presence of H. multicinctus in the different production zones, Quindío and Valle del Cauca, suggests a wide spread of this nematode in Colombia, directly related with the dispersion of contaminated seedlings between production zones, but also to environmental conditions that have favored the establishment of this species (altitude, soil type, and nutrient availability for the plant) ( Nath et al, 1998 ; Speijer and Ssango, 1999 ; Araya et al, 2011 ; Godefroid et al, 2017 ).…”

“…The four species identified in this study, H. multicinctus, H. dihystera, H. californicus , and H. erythrinae , have been reported in Musa spp. crops around the world ( Campos et al, 1987 ; Araya and De Waele, 2004 ; Karakas, 2007 ; Dias-Arieira, 2010 ; Ravichandra, 2014 ; Xiao et al, 2014 ; Lara et al, 2016 ; Tzortzakakis et al, 2017 ). However, this is the first report of these species for Musaceae crops in Colombia through integrative taxonomy.…”

“…These species occur individually or in a mixture associate with Musaceae of different production zones in the world, including Vietnam, Venezuela, Democratic Republic of Congo, Brazil, South Africa, India, Mexico, and Greece. These nematodes cause injuries to outer layers of cortical tissue (observed as brown–reddish to black discrete spots), as well as disruption and progressive deterioration of the roots system and, as a consequence, the plant’s capacity for the uptake of water and nutrients is affected negatively ( Orbin, 1973 ; Ngoc Chau et al, 1997 ; Crozzoli, 2009 ; Dias-Arieira, 2010 ; Khan and Hasan, 2010 ; Kamira et al, 2013 ; Roy et al, 2014 ; Daneel et al., 2015 ; Lara et al, 2016 ; Tzortzakakis et al., 2017 ). In addition, bunch maturation and size are reduced, with production losses between 19 and 34% at 2 to 3 years after planting, although the damage may be greater when R. similis is absent ( McSorley and Parrado, 1986 ; Barekye et al, 2000 ; Guzmán-Piedrahita, 2011 ; Selvaraj et al, 2014 ).…”

Description of Longidorus bordonensis sp. nov. from Portugal, with systematics and molecular phylogeny of the genus (Nematoda, Longidoridae)

“…However, the high intraspecific variability of some diagnostic features and the great diversity in phenotypic plasticity makes species identification based on metric and morphological data of external morphology and internal anatomy difficult and sometimes unreliable. Sequencing of RNA-based markers is a powerful molecular diagnostic approach within this group (Archidona-Yuste et al 2016Palomares-Rius et al 2017;Peraza-Padilla et al 2017;Tzortzakakis et al 2017;Xu et al 2018). Recently, several studies (Archidona-Yuste et al 2016Roshan-Bakhsh et al 2016;Esmaeili et al 2017;Tzortzakakis et al 2017;Xu et al 2017Xu et al , 2018Barsalote et al 2018;Cai et al 2019;Lazarova et al 2019) have shown the usefulness of a pair of molecular markers based on ribosomal RNA (rRNA) (D2-D3 domains of 28S gene and the ITS regions, particularly ITS1) for a fast and precise diagnosis of Longidorus species, even in extreme situations such as sibling and cryptic species.…”

First report of Longidorus leptocephalus Hooper, 1961 (Nematoda: Longidoridae) from Greece

“…Currently, 14 Longidorus spp. have been reported in Greece, but only nine of these have been molecularly identified: Longidorus closelongatus Stoyanov, 1964 , L. cretensis Tzortzakakis et al, 2001 , L. euonymus Mali and Hooper, 1974 , L. iranicus (= moesicus ) Sturhan and Barooti, 1983 , L. kuiperi Brinkman et al, 1987 , L. orientalis Loof, 1982 , L. pisi (= latocephalus ) Edward et al, 1964 , L. pseudoelongatus Altherr, 1976 , and L. pauli Lamberti et al, 1999 ( He et al, 2005 ; Tzortzakakis et al, 2014 , 2016 , 2017 , 2021 ). For the five remaining species L. africanus Merny, 1966 , L. elongatus ( de Man, 1876 ) Micoletzky, 1922 ,…”