Between-isolate difference in dispersal ability of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus and vulnerability to inhibition by Pinus densiflora

Abstract Differences among four isolates of Bursaphelenchus xylophilus and one of B. mucronatus in vulnerability to the inhibitory effect of Pinus densiflora on nematode dispersal were investigated by inoculating boiled and living branch sections 5 cm long. The intrinsic dispersal ability and vulnerability to the inhibitory effect of living branches differed among isolates. Additionally, the degree of branch inhibition of nematode dispersal was examined by inoculating the five isolates on 2.5 and 5.0 cm long, P. densiflora living branch sections. An increase in section length induced an 80% decrease in the number of nematodes of all isolates passing through the branch. The extent to which passing nematode number decreased as branch section length increased can be used to express susceptibility of pine species to pine wilt disease. Virulence had no relation to intrinsic and realised dispersal rates in B. xylophilus.