Remarkable Diversity and Prevalence of Dagger Nematodes of the Genus Xiphinema Cobb, 1913 (Nematoda: Longidoridae) in Olives Revealed by Integrative Approaches

PLoS One. 2016 Nov 9;11(11):e0165412. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0165412. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

The genus Xiphinema includes a remarkable group of invertebrates of the phylum Nematoda comprising ectoparasitic animals of many wild and cultivated plants. Damage is caused by direct feeding on root cells and by vectoring nepoviruses that cause diseases on several crops. Precise identification of Xiphinema species is critical for launching appropriate control measures. We make available the first detailed information on the diversity and distribution of Xiphinema species infesting wild and cultivated olive in a wide-region in southern Spain that included 211 locations from which 453 sampling sites were analyzed. The present study identified thirty-two Xiphinema spp. in the rhizosphere of olive trees, ten species belonging to Xiphinema americanum-group, whereas twenty-two were attributed to Xiphinema non-americanum-group. These results increase our current knowledge on the biodiversity of Xiphinema species identified in olives and include the description of four new species (Xiphinema andalusiense sp. nov., Xiphinema celtiense sp. nov., Xiphinema iznajarense sp. nov., and Xiphinema mengibarense sp. nov.), and two new records for cultivate olives (X. cadavalense and X. conurum). We also found evidence of remarkable prevalence of Xiphinema spp. in olive trees, viz. 85.0% (385 out of 453 sampling sites), and they were widely distributed in both wild and cultivated olives, with 26 and 17 Xiphinema spp., respectively. Diversity indexes (Richness, Hill´s diversity, Hill´s reciprocal of D and Hill´s evenness) were significantly affected by olive type. We also developed a comparative morphological and morphometrical study together with molecular data from three nuclear ribosomal RNA genes (D2-D3 expansion segments of 28S, ITS1, and partial 18S). Molecular characterization and phylogenetic analyses allowed the delimitation and discrimination of four new species of the genus described herein and three known species. Phylogenetic analyses of Xiphinema spp. resulted in a general consensus of these species groups. This study is the most complete phylogenetic analysis for Xiphinema non-americanum-group species to date.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biodiversity
  • Female
  • Male
  • Nematoda / anatomy & histology
  • Nematoda / classification
  • Nematoda / genetics*
  • Olea / parasitology*
  • Phylogeny*
  • Plant Roots / parasitology*
  • RNA, Helminth / genetics*
  • RNA, Ribosomal / genetics*
  • Rhizosphere
  • Sequence Analysis, DNA
  • Spain

Substances

  • RNA, Helminth
  • RNA, Ribosomal

Grants and funding

Financial support was received by Project P12-AGR-1486 from ‘Consejería de Economía, Innovación y Ciencia’ of Junta de Andalucía, the grant 219262 ArimNET_ERANET FP7 2012–2015 Project PESTOLIVE ‘Contribution of olivehistory for the management of soilborne parasites in the Mediterranean basin’ from Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), Project AGL-2012-37521 from ‘Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad’ of Spain, and FEDER financial support from the European Union. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.