A study about geographical distribution of root lesion nematode (Pratylenchus loosi, Loof 1960) in tea gardens at Guilan Province, Iran.

Root lesion nematode of tea (Pratylenchus loosi) is one of the most dangerous and distractive pests in all over areas in the world where tea grows. In Iran, this species was one of the quarantine pests that for first time it were separated from the Japan imported tea slips and reported by Maafi (1993). Nowadays it has been distributed in some tea growth areas of Guilan and Mazandaran provinces (North of Iran). In this study, geographical distribution of this pest is reported on some tea growth areas of Guilan province. In order to, 147 samples from root and soil around them were investigated. These samples were gathered from various gardens of Guilan province. They were transferred to nematology lab with suitable temperature and moisture conditions and were stored at 5-10 degrees C until extraction time. Centrifugal methods for nematode extraction from soil (Jenkins, 1964) and from root (Coolen & D'Herde, 1972) were used. The nematode was identified by Handoo & Golden (1989) and Frederick & Tarjan (1989) diagnostic keys. According to this study different infested areas and geographical distribution were detected in Guilan province. Results indicated that many important tea growth areas in Guilan were infested by this nematode. In addition, it seems that it has been distributed during short time.