Molecular and Morphometric Identification of P. Thornei and P. Neglectus in Southwest of Iran

Root lesion nematodes are considered as important agents of wheat yield reduction in most parts of the wheat growing areas. To elucidate disease situation in Khuzestan, a southwestern province of Iran, 40 soil & wheat root samples were collected. Morphological studies indicated that disease casual agents belong to Pratylenchus thornei and P. neglectus species. Morphometric studies showed that Differences exist in the body length compared with the studies done so far on these two species of nematode. The DNA of the two species, namely Pratylenchus thornei and P. neglectus, were extracted concidering Madani et al. [1], Silva et al. [2] and Waeyenberg et al. [3] plus some modifications. The quantity and quality of extracted DNA and its ability in DNA amplification and clearance of PCR bands were compared and the results showed that modified methods of Madani et al. [1] and Waeyenberg et al. [3] were the best methods for P. thornei and P. neglectus species. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and speciesspecific primers were used to identify P. thornei and P. neglectus