Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Gracilacus wuae n. sp. (Nematoda: Criconematoidea) Associated with Cow Parsnip (Heracleum maximum) in Ontario, Canada

Authors

Qing Yu, Agriculture and Agri-Food CanadaFollow
Weimin Ye, North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services
Thomas O. Powers, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2016

Citation

Journal of Nematology 48(3):203–213. 2016.

Comments

Copyright The Society of Nematologists 2016.

Abstract

Gracilacus wuae n. sp. from soil associated with cow parsnip in Ontario, Canada is described and illustrated. Morphologically, females have a long stylet ranging from 80 to 93 mmlong, the lip region not offset from the body contour, without lateral lips but with large and flat submedian lobes, the mouth opening slit-like elongated laterally and surrounded by lateral flaps, the excretory pore is anterior to the knobs of the stylet; males without stylet and the pharynx degenerated. The fourth-stage juveniles lack a stylet, the pharynx degenerated, and can be differentiated into preadult females and males based on the position of the genital primordia. The third-stage juveniles are similar to females but smaller. Phylogenetic studies using the rDNA small subunit 18S, large subunit 28S D2/D3, and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences collectively provide evidence of a grouping with other Gracilacus and some species of Paratylenchus with stylet length of females longer than 41 mm deposited in GenBank.