PLANT-PARASITIC NEMATODES ASSOCIATED WITH BLACKBERRY (RUBUS ADENOTRICHUS SCHLTDL.) PLANTATIONS IN COSTA RICA

In this study, plant-parasitic nematodes associated with blackberry plantations in Costa Rica were determined. From 2005 to 2014, 12 samples of roots and 36 samples of soil from blackberry plantations were collected in nine localities, and nematodes were extracted and identified to genus and some to species. Eighteen different genera of nematodes; plant-parasitic and other nematodes associated with roots; were identified these are: Aphelenchoides, Aphelenchus, Criconema, Criconemoides, Crossonema, Ditylenchus, Helicotylenchus, Hemicycliophora, Heterodera, Meloidogyne, Scutellonema, Pratylenchoides, Pratylenchus, Psilenchus, Trichodorus, Tylenchorhynchus, Tylenchus, and Xiphinema. Endoparasitic nematodes of importance like Meloidogyne sp. and Pratylenchus sp. were found in nine counties and three localities, respectively. The highest abundance of plant-parasitic nematodes of second-stage juveniles of Meloidogyne sp. was found in La Trinidad and San Martin. In La Luchita, Bajo Canet, Paramo, and Jardin high population densities of spiral nematodes of the genus Helicotylenchus were observed. Additionally, four species within the Criconematidae family (ring nematodes) were identified for the first time in association with blackberry in the country; these are Crossonema civellae, Criconema neopacificum, C. graminicola, and Criconemoides lizarbus.