The root-knot nematode Meloidogyne fallax is reported for the first time from white clover roots in New Zealand. Identity of the nematodes from single egg mass culture was confirmed by DNA sequencing along with morphological characters of the juveniles and relative gall size. The implications of this and previous host records on the ability of farmers and growers to devise effective rotations to manage this nematode are discussed.Keywords False Columbia Root-knot nematode . Fodder beet . Invasion potential . Host range Meloidogyne fallax was first recorded in New Zealand in 1998 from potato (Solanum tuberosa) tubers, and infected cotula (Lepinella spp.) roots from lawn-bowling greens (Marshall et al. 2001). In July 2011 a sample of fodder beet (Beta vulgaris) was received at the AgResearch Nematology lab, Ruakura. The sample was from a crop which had been reported to have poor yield of uncertain cause. Many fine roots of the beet tubers were affected by root-knot nematode galls ( Fig. 1). DNA extraction (Shah et al. 2009) and ITS sequencing (Shah et al. 2010) of single juvenile (ie J2) nematodes from some of these galls confirmed morphological observations that they were M. fallax. Further putative M. fallax eggs and J2s were extracted from beet crop fine roots and inoculated onto tomato plants (cv. Rutgers) to establish a culture of these nematodes. This culture was maintained in the Ruakura nematology glasshouse and subsequent DNA sequencing again confirmed these as M. fallax.The first indication that white clover may host M. fallax was in April 2012 when a soil sample was taken below a patch of white clover in an unused stock access way at Ruakura. Upon extraction from the soil, nematodes morphologically and molecularly matching M. fallax were observed. In an attempt to confirm this, nematodes from the putative M. fallax tomato culture were inoculated into two pots of white clover seedlings in June 2012. One month post inoculation, all the white clover roots contained small galls with adult female egg masses.To confirm the identity of the putative M. fallax from tomato culture, and its ability to be hosted by white clover, twelve white clover seedlings were each grown in a 10 ml Eppendorf pipette-tip filled with 1:4 sand: potting mix. Two weeks after sowing, plants were inoculated with single egg masses of the putative M. fallax. Inoculated plants were maintained in a controlled environment room for 8 weeks at 20°C, transferred to a 10 cm diameter pot filled with potting mix and maintained in the controlled environment room for a further 2 weeks. Subsequently, the pots were transferred to a glasshouse and maintained for 2 weeks, after which the roots were evaluated for galling. All inoculated plants produced galled roots. Egg masses with females were picked from root galls, cleaned thoroughly with distilled water and allowed to hatch in water at ambient temperature. Morphology of the second stage juveniles was observed through a microscope and single J2s picked for DNA extraction and subsequent ITS s...

Root crops are major food crops and export commodities in the South Pacific However the presence of mites and nematodes results in rejection or treatment of these crops exported to New Zealand Current disinfestation methods relying on fumigation result in shorter produce shelf life This paper summarises the organisms intercepted on root crops from the Pacific Islands and sent for identification in New Zealand with particular reference to mites and nematodes Results of a laboratory experiment examining the response of representative mite and nematode species to hot water treatment indicated times of less than 4 min at 48C or 2 min at 49C resulted in 99 mortality The implications of these heat treatments for root crops are discussed Additionally rearing methods are presented for two mite species a mould mite and a bulb mite These species will be relevant for use in future New Zealand and Pacific Island disinfestation studies

A pot trial with two sampling times was conducted to compare the non-target effects of Nil endophyte ryegrass with three endophyte/ryegrass combinations, two selected endophytes (AR1 and AR37) and a wild-type, in the same cultivar. Shoot dry weight, soil nematode and microbial abundance and community diversity were assessed at each sample time. Plants infected with wildtype endophyte produced significantly less shoot weight than all other treatments due to slow initial growth. Keywords: Neotyphodium, Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis, Enrichment Index, Structure Index, Nematode Channel Ratio

A base population of 80 cultivars or seedlines of white clover from around the world was used to develop nematode tolerant selections. Clover plants were grown in strips of black plastic, akin to strawberry growing, in order to increase soil temperature and thence nematode activity in clover roots. Clover growth was assessed visually and by dry matter determination in five rounds of selection from 1989-2001. After each round of selection the 20-30 best performing plants for each of three leaf sizes (large, medium and small) were polycrossed and the seed collected. The resulting selections have performed at least as well as, and in many cases better, than standard commercial cultivars at a range of field sites. Keywords: Meloidogyne, Heterodera, Pratylenchus, Trifolium, field selection, nematode tolerance, nematode resistance

Alternatives were sought to the standard root staining and plate counting technique for determining abundance of rootinhabiting plant parasitic nematodes as it is time consuming and laborious The use of KOH cellulase pectinase EDTA sodium hypochlorite bleach root staining or tap water alone or in combination with heating or maceration in a Waring blender was investigated as tools for extracting the root knot (Meloidogyne) clover cyst (Heterodera) and lesion (Pratylenchus) nematodes from white clover (Trifolium repens) roots Abundance of nematodes extracted from and remaining in roots after maceration was determined to assess the efficacy of the various treatments The best method involved staining roots by the standard method followed by a 10 second pulse of blender maceration For seedlings extraction of M trifoliophila nematodes by the best maceration method was not significantly different to that of the standard method but macerated samples took ca 6x less time to assess than the standard method