Survey of Nematodes in Coniferous Bonsai in Korea

As preventive measures for bonsai exports, nematodes were isolated from 55 bonsai samples of five coniferous species (Chamaecyparis pisifera, Juniperus chinensis, Pinus densiflora, Pinus thunbergii, and Taxus cuspidate) from all 15 bonsai gardens in Korea. Nematodes belonging to 21 genera in 7 orders were isolated from the 55 bonsai samples. Among plant-parasitic nematodes, Tylenchus spp. was the most frequently isolated (14.9%), followed by Ditylenchus spp. (10.5%), Aphelenchoides spp. (9.5%), Aphelenchus sp. (5.5%), Criconemoides sp. (4.0%), Helicotylenchus sp. (0.7%), Hemicycliophora sp. (0.7%), Mesocriconema sp. (0.7%), Tylenchorhynchus sp. (0.7%), and Paratylenchus sp. (0.4%). Among non-parasitic nematodes, Cephalobina was the most frequently isolated nematodes (26.5%), followed by Rhabditida (19.3%), Dorylaimida (17.8%), Pangrolaimida (14.5%), Plectida (6.5%), Tryphylida (6.2%), Mononchida (3.3%), Alaimida (2.9%), Monhysterida (2.5%), and Triplonchida (0.4%). Based on these results, we conclude that there is no problematic plant-parasitic nematode in bonsai gardens of Korea.