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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Fort Pierce, Florida » U.S. Horticultural Research Laboratory » Subtropical Plant Pathology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #164465

Title: HOST RANGE STUDIES FOR MELOIDOGYNE FLORIDENSIS

Author
item Burelle, Nancy
item Nyczepir, Andrew

Submitted to: Journal of Nematology
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/1/2004
Publication Date: 10/1/2004
Citation: Kokalis-Burelle, N., Nyczepir, A. P. 2004. Host Range Studies for Meloidogyne floridensis. Journal of Nematology. 36:328.

Interpretive Summary: Meloidogyne floridensis was recently identified as a new root-knot nematode species occurring on nematode resistant Nemaguard and Okinawa peach rootstocks in Florida. This nematode was first detected in 1966 in Gainesville, Florida, on a site cleared of native timber and used for peach rootstock trials. In the 1970's, this nematode was detected in additional surrounding sites previously planted to soybeans, corn, lupine and red clover and was initially identified in 1982 as M. incognita race 3. Further collaborative work in Byron, Ga, Beltsville, MD, France, Brazil, and The Netherlands characterized and named this species as Meloidogyne floridensis. Research reported here was performed to determine the reproductive potential of M. floridensis on several vegetable, ornamental, and herb crops important to Florida, where this nematode has been isolated with increasing frequency. Crops with high reproductive potential should be considered as very susceptible to this nematode. Crops tested were tomato, pepper, cucumber, eggplant, squash, collards, strawberry, impatiens, marigold, verbena, snapdragon, begonia, parsley, sage, basil, and dill. Plants were inoculated with M. floridensis eggs and grown in the greenhouse for 30 days. At the end of the studies eggs were extracted from roots and the reproductive potential was calculated by dividing the number of eggs at the end of the experiment by the number of eggs added at the beginning of the experiment. The highest levels of M. floridensis reproduction were observed on verbena (12.6), eggplant (8.1), squash (7.6), and basil (6.8), followed by intermediate reproduction levels for impatiens (3.3), tomato (1.9), snapdragon (1.6), and dill (1.2). Sage, marigold, cucumber, begonia, parsley, collards, strawberry and pepper had reproductive potential values < 1.0 and were considered non-hosts for M. floridensis. More extensive host range tests including weeds common to Florida are currently underway.

Technical Abstract: Meloidogyne floridensis has recently (2004) been characterized as a new root-knot nematode species although it was initially identified in 1982 as M. incognita race 3. This nematode was first detected in 1966 in Gainesville, Florida, on a site cleared of native timber and used for peach rootstock trials. The nematode was reported to reproduce on root-knot nematode resistant Nemaguard and Okinawa peach rootstocks. In the 1970's, this nematode was detected in additional surrounding sites previously planted to soybeans, corn, lupine and red clover. Host range studies were performed to determine the reproductive potential (RP) of M. floridensis on several vegetable, ornamental, and herb crops important to Florida, where this nematode has been isolated with increasing frequency. Crops tested were tomato, pepper, cucumber, eggplant, squash, collards, strawberry, impatiens, marigold, verbena, snapdragon, begonia, parsley, sage, basil, and dill. Plants were potted in a nematode-free sand:peat moss mix, inoculated with 5,000 M. floridensis eggs/1,000 cm3 soil, and grown in the greenhouse for 30 days. Eggs were extracted from roots and RP was calculated using Pf/Pi ratios. The highest levels of M. floridensis reproduction were observed on verbena (12.6), eggplant (8.1), squash (7.6), and basil (6.8), followed by intermediate reproduction levels for impatiens (3.3), tomato (1.9), snapdragon (1.6), and dill (1.2). Sage, marigold, cucumber, begonia, parsley, collards, strawberry and pepper had RP values < 1.0 and were considered non-hosts for M. floridensis. More extensive host range tests including weeds common to Florida are currently underway.