Host Status of Some Weeds to Meloidogyne spp., Pratylenchus spp., Helicotylenchus spp. and Rotylenchulus reniformis Associated with Vegetables Cultivated in Polytunnels in Martinique

During a survey of the nematodes associated with weeds in vegetables growing in plastic polytunnels in Martinique, 33 weed species in 26 genera and 15 families were collected to extract nematodes from the roots. Results of this survey showed that weeds mainly belong to five families: the Asteraceae, Amaranthaceae, Poaceae, Euphorbiaceae, and the Portulacaceae and only four phytoparasitic nematode genera were consistently recovered. Four weed species were found to be nematode free. All the others were considered nematode reservoirs. The most frequently encountered nematodes were Rotylenchulus reniformis, followed by different species of Meloidogyne, Helicotylenchus, and Pratylenchus. When present, root infestation by Meloidogyne always outnumbered the other nematode species. It is noticeable that, during this survey, only three weed species exhibited typical symptoms of galls and deformed roots when infected by Meloidogyne.