sp. Nov. (Nematoda: Pratylenchidae) on Raspberries in North Italy with a Morphometrical and Molecular Characterization.

Root-lesion nematode species rank third only to root-knot and cyst nematodes as having the greatest economic impact on crops worldwide. A survey of plant-parasitic nematodes associated with decaying raspberries ( sp.) in northern Italy revealed that root-lesion nematodes were the most frequently occurring species among other phytonematodes. Several species have been associated with sp. in Canada (Quebec, British Columbia) and USA (North Carolina, Maryland, New Jersey) including and In the roots and rhizosphere of symptomatic raspberries, nematodes of two spp. were detected. Detailed morphometrics of the two root-lesion nematode isolates were consistent with and with an undescribed species. The extracted nematodes were observed and measured as live and fixed materials and subsequently identified by integrative taxonomy (morphometrically and molecularly). The latter species is described herein as sp. nov., resulting morphometrically closest to and phylogenetically to . The molecular identification of sp. nov. was carried out by sequencing the ITS region, D2-D3 expansion domains of the 28S rRNA gene and a partial region of the nuclear gene. ITS-RFLP and sequence analyses revealed that sp. nov. had species-specific restriction profiles with no corresponding sequences present in the database. The phylogenetic relationships with ITS and D2-D3 sequences placed the sp. nov. in a clade with and . This research confirms the occurrence of cryptic biodiversity within the genus as well as the need for an integrative approach to the identification of species.