Abstract
A new species of entomopathogenic nematode (EPN), Steinernema biddulphi n. sp., was isolated from a maize field in Senekal, Free State Province of South Africa. Morphological and molecular studies indicated the distinctness of S. biddulphi n. sp. from other Steinernema species. Steinernema biddulphi n. sp. is characterized IJs with average body length of 663 μm (606-778 μm), lateral fields with six ridges in mid-body region forming the formula 2,6,2. Excretory pore located anterior to mid-pharynx (D% = 46). Hyaline layer occupies approximately half of tail length. Male spicules slightly to moderately curved, with a sharp tip and golden brown in color. The first generation of males lacking a mucron on the tail tip while the second generation males with a short filamentous mucron. Genital papillae with 11 pairs and one unpaired preanal papilla. The new species is further characterized by sequences of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and partial 28S regions (D2-D3) of the ribosomal DNA (rDNA). Phylogenetic data show that S. biddulphi n. sp. belongs to the "bicornutum" clade within the Steinernematidae family.
Highlights
A new species of entomopathogenic nematode (EPN), Steinernema biddulphi n. sp., was isolated from a maize field in Senekal, Free State Province of South Africa
Entomopathogenic nematode species belonging to the family Steinernematidae (Rhabditida) are obligate and lethal endoparasites of insects that have a symbiotic relationship with specific bacteria of the genus Xenorhabdus (Poinar, 1990)
Surveys were conducted during mid-summer in the central regions of the Free State Province around the Received for publication February 2, 2016. 1Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts and Science, Adnan Menderes University, 09010 Aydin, Turkey. 2Laboratory of Entomopathogenic Nematodes, Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, Branisovska 31, 370 05, Ceske Budejovice, The Czech Republic. 3South African Agricultural Research Council, Small Grain Institute, Private Bag X29, Bethlehem, 9701, South Africa
Summary
Soil samples were collected from a maize field in Senekal, Free State, South Africa. Five lastinstar Galleria mellonella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) larvae were placed in a 600-ml plastic container filled with moistened soil obtained from samples (Bedding and Akhurst, 1975). Mortality of G. mellonella larvae was checked daily and dead larvae were transferred to a modified White trap (White, 1927) until emergence of IJs (Kaya and Stock, 1997). The. first and second generation adults were obtained from the dissection of 3- and 5-d-old infected G. mellonella larvae, respectively. Infective juveniles were collected approximately 1 wk after emergence from the cadavers. The IJs and the first and second generation adults were heat-killed in Ringer’s solution and fixed in triethanolamine formalin (Courtney et al, 1955). Morphometric analysis of the specimens was conducted and photographs using a Zeiss Axioplan 2 microscope (Zeiss, Jena, Germany) equipped with an Olympus DP73 digital camera (Olympus, Hamburg, Germany)
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