Abstract
In December 2017, a Ficus microcarpa “Tiger bark” bonsai tree was acquired in a shopping center in Coimbra, Portugal, without symptoms in the leaves, but showing small atypical galls of infection caused by root-knot nematodes (RKN), Meloidogyne spp. The soil nematode community was assessed and four Tylenchida genera were detected: Helicotylenchus (94.02%), Tylenchus s.l. (4.35%), Tylenchorynchus s.l. (1.09%) and Meloidogyne (0.54%). The RKN M. javanica was identified through analysis of esterase isoenzyme phenotype (J3), PCR-RFLP of mitochondrial DNA region between COII and 16S rRNA genes and SCAR-PCR. The Helicotylenchus species was identified on the basis of female morphology that showed the body being spirally curved, with up to two turns after relation with gentle heat, a key feature of H. dihystera, and molecular characterization, using the D2D3 expansion region of the 28S rDNA, which revealed a similarity of 99.99% with available sequences of the common spiral nematode H. dihystera. To our knowledge, M. javanica and H. dihystera are reported for the first time as parasitizing F. microcarpa. Our findings reveal that more inspections are required to detect these and other plant-parasitic nematodes, mainly with quarantine status, to prevent their spread if found.
Highlights
The globalization era opens up new trade routes and increases the volume and complexity of cross-border transactions of goods
The aims of the present study were to find the nematode diversity associated to F. mircrocarpa bonsai plant, to characterize/identify the root-knot nematodes (RKN), Meloidogyne sp., and the spiral nematode, Helicotylenchus sp., parasitizing F. microcarpa (Figure 1a) and to enlarge the knowledge on the phytoparasitic nematodes of this Ficus species
The plant-parasitic nematodes (PPN) detected in the soil sample (130 g) of F. microcarpa bonsai belonged to four genera: Helicotylenchus (94.02%), Tylenchus s.l. (4.35%), Tylenchorynchus s.l. (1.09%) and Meloidogyne J2 (0.54%)
Summary
The globalization era opens up new trade routes and increases the volume and complexity of cross-border transactions of goods. The introduction of the alien pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus in Portugal has caused huge environmental and economic losses in Portuguese pine forests, while in North America, where this nematode is native, it does not cause significant mortality to native conifers [5,6,7]. These problems are expected to be intensified in the future as climate change is predicted to facilitate the further spread of Plants 2020, 9, 1085; doi:10.3390/plants9091085 www.mdpi.com/journal/plants
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