Identification and pathogenicity ofPratylenchus scribnerion tomato in Sichuan Province of People's Republic of China

Abstract

AbstractRoot-lesion nematodes (Pratylenchusspp.) are a group of economically important pathogens that have caused serious economic losses in many crops. In 2019, root-lesion nematodes were recovered from tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) root samples collected from Sichuan Province, People's Republic of China (PRC). Extracted nematodes were disinfected, and one individual female was cultured on a carrot disc for propagation at 25 °C by parthenogenesis and designated the SC isolate. Afterwards, the isolate was identified on the basis of morphometric and molecular markers. Both morphometric characters and molecular analysis of the internal transcribed spacer region gene (ITS) of ribosomal DNA, the D2-D3 expansion region of the 28S rDNA gene and the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (mtDNA-COI) gene revealed that the species of root-lesion nematode wasPratylenchus scribneri. The Bayesian tree inferred from the ITS rDNA, 28S rDNA and mtDNA-COI gene sequences also showed that this isolate formed a highly supported clade with otherP. scribneriisolates. The pathogenicity of the root-lesion nematode SC isolate on tomato was assessed, showing that tomato was a suitable host forP. scribneri. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report ofP. scribnerion tomato in Sichuan Province, PRC. These are also the first molecular data obtained fromP. scribnerion tomato in the PRC, and the pathogenicity ofP. scribnerito tomato was studied for the first time. This study provides scientific data for the detection, identification and control of tomato root-lesion nematode disease.