Plant-parasitic nematodes associated with walnut in the Sanandej region of West Iran

A survey of plant-parasitic nematodes associated with walnut was carried out in the Sanandej region, of the province of Kurdistan, in western Iran, during the 2011-2012 time period. After taking samples from fifty-four localities and then doing the routine laboratory work for processing, fixing, and mounting of the nematodes, twenty-one species of plant-parasitic nematodes were finally identified. Among the identified species: Cacopaurus pestis, Mesocriconema xenoplax, Pratylenchus vulnus and Meloidogyne incognita are likely to cause damage. Spiral (Helicotylenchus crassatus, H. digonicus, H. pseudorobustus and H. vulgaris), ring (Mesocriconema antipolitanum and M. xenoplax) and root-lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus neglectus, P. thornei, P. vulnus and P. delattrei) were the most predominant nematodes in the sampled area (frequencies in soil were 87.0, 77.8, and 72.2% and 46.3, 20.4 and 14.8% in root samples, respectively). In the present study, Pratylenchus delattrei, Trophurus lomus, Paratylenchus similis, Geocenamus stegus, Helicotylenchus crassatus, Scutellonema brachyurus and Meloidogyne incognita were reported as new species associated with walnut in Iran