Plant-parasitic nematodes associated with sugarcane in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Morphological and molecular analyses of plant-parasitic nematodes (PPN) from 12 sugarcane plantation sites of Tanganyika Planting Company (TPC) Limited in Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania revealed the presence of six PPN genera, i.e. Helicotylenchus, Hemi-cycliophora, Pratylenchus, Rotylenchulus, Scutellonema, and Tylenchorhynchus. The genera with the highest densities and present in virtually all samples were Pratylenchus and Rotylenchulus, and the most important species appeared to be R. parvus, P. zeae, T. crassicaudatus, and T. ventrosignatus. A total sequences of 11 partial ITS, 15 D2-D3 of 28S, and 6 partial 18S of rRNA gene, and 7 partial COl gene of mtDNA of these species were obtained in this study. Morphology and molecular data comparisons between the Tanzanian R. parvus and the South African R. parvus indicated that R. parvus is a cryptic species complex. Based on the results of morphological and molecular analyses of T. crassicaudatus and T. agri from China, Haiti, Indonesia, Iran, Niger and the USA, T. agri syn. n. is proposed as a junior synonym of T. crassicaudatus.