Distribution of phytonematodes associated with stone and nut fruits in Kashmir valley, India

Abstract: Soil samples were collected from the rhizosphere of stone fruits viz., peach, plum, apricot, cherry and nut fruits viz., almond and walnut from three year old nurseries at five different localities of Kashmir valley and processed to assess the population density of phytonematodes at each locality. Ten species/ genera of plant parasitic nematodes viz., Pratylenchus penetrans, Paratylenchus juglansi, Meloidogyne hapla, Tylenchorhynchus spp., Criconema spp., Rotylenchus spp., Xiphinema basiri, Longidorus spp., Hoplolaimus spp. and Helicotylenchus indicus were recorded. The most common nematode species which was frequently found in the rhizosphere of the surveyed fruit crops were Pratylenchus penetrans and Helicotylenchus indicus. Meloidogyne hapla was also common in all the fruit crops except peach and walnut. Paratylenchus juglansi was reported from the rhizosphere of walnut only. Absolute frequency of P. penetrans and Tylenchorhynchus spp. in almond and H. indicus in walnut was 100% in three different localities. Absolute density and prominence value of H. indicus was highest i.e. 665 in walnut followed by 623 of P. penetrans in cherry and 618 of Tylenchorhynchus spp. in almond at separate localities of the survey. Presence of varying densities and types of plant parasitic nematodes associated with stone and nut fruits reveal that plant parasitic nematodes form an important component in temperate fruit ecosystem which needs to be investigated for assessing the role of relative virulence of a particular species, host specificity and tolerance level in host.