Ecology and Evolution (2022) 12 (9 - e9326)

Elena Fanelli, Francesca Gaffuri, Alberto Troccoli, Stefano Sacchi and Francesca De Luca (2022)
New occurrence of Meloidogyne graminicola (Nematoda: Meloidogyninae) from rice fields in Italy: Variability and phylogenetic relationships
Ecology and Evolution 12 (9 - e9326)
Abstract: Since the first detection of Meloidogyne graminicola in Piedmont, North Italy, in 2016, further inspections for the presence of the rice root-knot nematode were carried out in rice fields of neighboring regions, in accordance with the Italian NPPO (National Plant Protection Organization) to support the official phytosanitary measures, to enable the early detection of the rice pest, and to prevent its spread within the national territory. In 2018, surveys of rice fields in Lombardy region revealed a new occurrence of M. graminicola. In the present study, we confirmed the identification of the rice nematode in Lombardy using the ribosomal ITS region and the mitochondrial COI and COII genes. The sequences and phylogenetic analyses revealed that Lombardy M. graminicola population grouped in all trees in the main cluster containing Meloidogyne species belonging to graminis group, but always in a different subgroup compared to the Piedmont population of M. graminicola. These results clearly suggest that the two Italian populations have been recently and independently introduced and confirm that the geographic origin is not the main factor leading to M. graminicola population variability.
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Database assignments for author(s): Alberto Troccoli, Francesca De Luca

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
surveys/sampling/distribution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Meloidogyne graminicola	Rice (Oryza)	Italy