On the molecular identity of Paratylenchus nanus Cobb, 1923 (Nematoda: Tylenchida)

Authors: SUBBOTIN, SERGEL - California Department Of Agriculture; YAN, GUIPING - North Dakota State University; KANTOR, MIHAIL - Orise Fellow; Handoo, Zafar

Submitted to: Journal of Nematology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/20/2020
Publication Date: 1/11/2021
Citation: Subbotin, S.A., Yan, G.P., Kantor, M.R., Handoo, Z.A. 2020. On the molecular identity of Paratylenchus nanus Cobb, 1923 (Nematoda: Tylenchida). Journal of Nematology. 52:1-7. doi:10.21307/jofnem-2020-127.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/jofnem-2020-127

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. Pin nematodes (Paratylenchus spp.) are the most economically important groups of plant-parasitic nematodes that damage the roots of many kinds of plants worldwide. One problem with pin nematodes is that growers have no idea of how many exist. Some pin nematodes infect grasses. In this study, scientists from California Department of Food and Agriculture, Sacramento, CA and North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND, together with ARS scientists at Beltsville, MD, analyzed anatomical and molecular traits to identify the pin nematodes isolated from grasses in Four Mile Run, Fall Church, Virginia, and Devils Lake, Ramsey County, North Dakota. This study provides the first molecular details for both these species and clarified the original locations of these species. Information on how to distinguish molecularly these two species of nematodes from closely related species is also included along with anatomical illustrations. This discovery is significant because new molecular and morphological information obtained from these species will facilitate future identifications of the pin nematodes. This report will serve as a useful guide to researchers and diagnosticians in identifying important pin nematodes from the genus Paratylenchus. Therefore, this research will be used by research scientists, action agencies, and extension agencies involved in nematode research and control.

Technical Abstract: In this study molecular characterization of Paratylenchus nanus collected from the type locality in Four Mile Run, Fall Church, Virginia, using COI, D2-D3 of 28S rRNA, and ITS rRNA gene sequences is provided. We molecularly characterized, Paratylenchus specimens collected from grasses in Devils Lake, Ramsey County, North Dakota, indicated as the type locality in the original description of P. nanus by Cobb (1923) who also analyzed and identified them as representatives of the species P. projectus. Populations of P. nanus belonging to the molecular types A and B, as it was designated by Van den Berg et al. (2014), should be identified as P. nanus and P. projectus, respectively.