Morphological and molecular characterisation of some Hemicriconemoides species (Nematoda: Criconematidae) together with a phylogeny of the genus

Sheathoid nematodes of the genus Hemicriconemoides are migratory root-ectoparasites of many plants including various agricultural crops and fruit trees. They are generally found inhabiting warm areas of the world and presently consist of 52 valid species. In this study we provide morphological and molecular characterisation of 12 species of this genus viz.: H. alexis, H. brachyurus, H. californianus, H. chitwoodi, H. macrodorus, H. minutus, H. ortonwilliamsi, H. promissus, H. silvaticus, H. strictathecatus, H. wessoni and Hemicriconemoides sp. originating from China, Greece, Japan, Myanmar, Spain, South Africa and the USA. Morphological descriptions, measurements, light and scanning electron microscopic observations and drawings are given for several species. Phylogenetic relationships within Hemicriconemoides, as inferred from the analyses of the D2-D3 of 28S rRNA and ITS-rRNA gene sequences, resulted in trees with three major clades that corresponded with species groupings based on morphology of the lip pattern and vulval flap. PCR with species-specific primers were developed for H. californianus, H. chitwoodi and H. strictathecatus. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2014.Pablo Castillo acknowledges support from grant 219262 ArimNET_ERANET FP7 2012-2015 Project PESTOLIVE ‘Contribution of olive history for the management of soilborne parasites in the Mediterranean basin’ from Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), grant AGL2012-37521 from ‘Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad’ of Spain, grant AGR-136 from ‘Consejería de Economía, Innvovación y Ciencia’ from Junta de Andalucía, and the European Social Fund.Peer Reviewe