Distribution of Meloidogyne spp. in agricultural crops of Ecuador: a literature review (1976–2021)

In Ecuador, as in other Latin American countries, the agricultural sector has a high economic as well as sociocultural importance. Nevertheless, there is a large group of plant-parasitic nematodes that affect the development and longevity of plants, thereby resulting in a reduction in crop yielding. Out of all of these, the root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) are particularly noteworthy as they cause severe economic losses with their wide geographical distribution and their potential to infect a wide variety of crops. With the main purpose of updating knowledge on biodiversity, occurrence, and distribution of Meloidogyne spp. in Ecuador crops, an advanced search of information for a period of 45 years in national and international databases was made. The main crops affected by this group of plant-parasitic nematodes were found to be Solanaceae (S. lycopersicum, S. betaceum, S. quitoense and Capsicum annuum), as well as Musa sp., Oryza sativa, Phaseolus vulgaris, and Lactuca sativa. To date, a total of five Meloidogyne species have been identified in Ecuador, being M. incognita the more frequent, followed by M. arenaria, M. graminicola, M. hapla and M. javanica. Furthermore, the identification technique most commonly used in RKN diagnostic was the classical technique, mainly based on females’ perineal pattern and measurements of second-stage juveniles, followed by molecular, cytogenetics, and isoenzyme analysis. This research represents a guideline for future research in crops and Ecuador provinces that have not yet been thoroughly examined in what concerns the presence of root-knot nematodes