Integrative Taxonomy and Molecular Phylogeny of the Plant-Parasitic Nematode Genus (Nematoda: Paratylenchinae): Linking Species with Molecular Barcodes.

Pin nematodes of the genus are obligate ectoparasites of a wide variety of plants that are distributed worldwide. In this study, individual morphologically vouchered nematode specimens of fourteen species, including and , are unequivocally linked to the D2-D3 of 28S, ITS, 18S rRNA and gene sequences. Combined with scanning electron microscopy and a molecular analysis of an additional nine known and thirteen unknown species originating from diverse geographic regions, a total of 92 D2-D3 of 28S, 41 ITS, 57 18S rRNA and 111 new gene sequences are presented. , and are recorded for the first time in Belgium and for the first time in Europe. is an excellent example of an incredibly diverse yet morphologically minimalistic plant-parasitic genus, and this study provides an integrated analysis of all available data, including coalescence-based molecular species delimitation, resulting in an updated phylogeny and the corrective reassignment of 18 D2-D3 of 28S, 3 ITS, 3 18S rRNA and 25 gene sequences that were previously unidentified or incorrectly classified.