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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Mycology and Nematology Genetic Diversity and Biology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #375885
Research Project: Molecular Systematics, Identification, Biology, and Management of Crop-Parasitic Nematodes

Location: Mycology and Nematology Genetic Diversity and Biology Laboratory

Title: First report of Mesocriconema sphaerocephalum (Taylor, 1936) Loof, 1989 associated with bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) in Egypt

Author
item Handoo, Zafar
item KANTOR, MIHAIL - Orise Fellow
item MOSTAFA, HAMMAM - National Research Centre
item MOAWAD, MOHAMED - National Research Centre
item MAHFOUZ, ABD-ELGAWAD - National Research Centre

Submitted to: Egyptian Journal of Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/18/2020
Publication Date: 8/3/2020
Citation: Handoo, Z.A., Kantor, M.A., Mostafa, H.M., Moawad, M.M., Mahfouz, A.M. 2020. First report of Mesocriconema sphaerocephalum (Taylor, 1936) Loof, 1989 associated with bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) in Egypt. Egyptian Journal of Entomology. 19(1):19-28. https://doi.org/10.21608/ejaj.2020.105860.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21608/ejaj.2020.105860

Interpretive Summary: Plant-parasitic nematodes are microscopic worms that cause an estimated ten billion dollars of crop losses each year in the United States and 100 billion dollars globally. Ring nematodes are the most economically important groups of plant-parasitic nematodes that damage the roots of many kinds of plants worldwide. One problem with ring nematodes is that growers have no idea of how many kinds of nematodes exist. In this study, ARS scientists in Beltsville, MD and colleagues from National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, Egypt, analyzed anatomical features to identify the ring nematode isolated from bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) fields in Badr Centre, El-Beheira governorate, Egypt. This is a new host record of this ring nematode species from Badr Centre, El-Beheira governorate, Egypt. This discovery is significant because new morphological information obtained for this nematode will facilitate future identifications of this ring nematode. This report will serve as a useful guide to researchers and diagnosticians identifying important ring nematodes from the genus Mesocriconema.

Technical Abstract: Ring nematodes of the genus Mesocriconema are a group of polyphagous, migratory root- ectoparasites of plants. In a nematode survey of three governorates in Egypt, Mesocriconema sphaerocephalum was isolated from the rhizosphere of soil samples in five bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) fields, as a new host record, at Badr Centre, El-Beheira governorate. Mesocriconema sphaerocephalum specimens were extracted from 5 out of 45 (11.1%) soil samples with a population density up to 23 individuals/250 g soil. Morphological and morphometrical analysis of females and juveniles were used for species identification. This species has been previously reported from Egypt on other hosts. Nevertheless, this is the first report of M. sphaerocephalum associated with pepper plants. Additional information on the distribution, importance, and status of this phytoparasite is presented.