Laimaphelenchus suberensis sp. nov. associated with Quercus suber in Portugal

Abstract

Laimaphelenchus suberensis sp. nov. obtained from declining Quercus suber trees of Herdade da Gouveia de Baixo, Alentejo, Portugal, is described and illustrated based on morphological, biometrical and molecular characters. The diagnosis of Laimaphelenchus species has been commonly based on the presence or absence of a vulval flap and on the shape structure of the tail tip. The species described here has been included in the Laimaphelenchus group without vulval flap, and can be distinguished from morphologically similar species by its tail tip shape structure that has a stalk-like terminus and three diffuse tubercles with 4-6 finger-like protrusions. For the molecular analyses, the mitochondrial DNA region from the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (mtCOI), the D2-D3 expansion segments of the large subunit (LSU) and small subunit (SSU) of rRNA gene were amplified and sequenced. Sequences of L. suberensis sp. nov. clustered separately from all Laimaphelenchus spp. with available sequences in Genbank, confirming its identification as a new species. This is the second report of the genus Laimaphelenchus in Portugal, associated with Q. suber: L. heidelbergi and L. suberensis sp. nov. Keywords Cytochrome oxidase subunit I. Cork oak. Large subunit ribosomal RNA. Molecular analysis. Morphology. Small subunit ribosomal RNA 2008). This genus comprises 17 valid species, two of

On the species status of Laimaphelenchus hyrcanus and L. belgradiensis

“…The genus Laimaphelenchus Fuchs, 1937 comprises 18 valid species, three of which have recently been described and assigned to the genus: L. belgradiensis Oro, ; L. hyrcanus Miraeiz, Heydari, Maafi, & Bert, and L. suberensis Maleita, Costa, & Abrantes, .…”

“…and jujube ( Ziziphus jujube Miller) trees from Gorgan, Golestan province in northern Iran (Miraeiz et al., ). Maleita et al., in , described L. suberensis , a species obtained from declining cork oak ( Quercus suber L.) trees from Alentejo region, Portugal. Analysing the phylogenetic relationship of L. suberensis compared with other Laimaphelenchus spp.…”

“…with available D2‐D3 expansion segments of the large subunit (LSU) of rRNA, L. belgradiensis and L . hyrcanus formed a well‐supported clade (100%) with the exclusion of L. persicus (Maleita et al., ). The molecular similarity between L. belgradiensis and L. hyrcanus prompted the comparison of the descriptions of these two species.…”

Laimaphelenchus africanus n. sp. (Tylenchomorpha: Aphelenchoididae) from South Africa, a morphological and molecular phylogenetic study, with an update to the diagnostics of the genus

“…In 2016, L. heidelbergi was transferred to the genus Aphelenchoides ( Fischer, 1894 ) by Carta et al (2016) , while other possible synonymies were discussed by Pedram et al (2018) . Recently, four species viz., L. suberensis ( Maleita et al, 2018 ), L. liaoningensis ( Song et al, 2020 ), L. spiflatus ( Gu et al, 2020a ), and L. sinensis ( Gu et al, 2020b ) have been added to the genus.…”