Occurrence of root knot nematode (Meloidogyne spp.) in the air-cured tobacco fields in Mazandaran province, Iran

In order to identify the species and the races of root knot nematodes in the air-cured tobacco fields of Mazandaran province, 102 soil and root samples from tobacco fields were collected during 2014. Nematodes were extracted from soil and roots using Jenkins and Coolen and DHerde methods, respectively. The number of nematodes were counted, and the species and races were determined by studying perineal patterns obtained from adult females and the reaction of differential host plans (cotton Deltapin 16, tobacco NC-95, watermelon Charleston grey, tomato Rutgers, Peanut Florunne, pepper Early California Wonder) to nematode infection. This study revealed that 59.52 percent of the samples were infected with M. incognita Race 2, 40.47percent M. javanica, 14.28 percent M. arenaria Race 2 and 7.14 percent M. hapla. About 21 percent of samples were infected with two species where M. incognita was always one member of the mixed populations, the other members were M. javanica, M. arenaria or M. hapla. These species were distributed in Sboukola, Velashed and Kharkesh tobacco fields in Mazandaran province, Iran.