Characterization of Meloidogyne incognita, M. arenaria and M. hapla populations from Spain and Uruguay parasitizing pepper (Capsicum annuum L.)

A total of 136 populations of Meloidogyne arenaria, M. hapla, M. incognita and M. javanica were collected from infected soil from representative horticultural regions of Spain and Uruguay, and evaluated in a bioassay designed to characterize the virulence on cultivars of pepper, tomato, cotton, tobacco and watermelon. None of the of M. arenaria race 2 or M. javanica populations parasitized any of the resistant pepper cultivars used, but all of the M. hapla populations reproduced on resistant peppers. Forty-three populations were found to parasitize both susceptible and resistant pepper cultivars, of those, 37 populations belonged to M. incognita (all races), one to M. arenaria (new race 3), and five to M. hapla races A and B. Seventeen of the M. incognita populations that were virulent on resistant pepper did not parasitize the resistant tomato cv. Nikita containing the Mi gene. The results obtained have important implications for the design of alternative nematode management strategies using resistant cultivars.