Description of Mesocriconema ericaceum n. sp. (Nematoda: Criconematidae) and notes on other nematode species discovered in an ericaceous heath bald community in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA

Thomas O. Powers, Peter Mullin, Rebecca Higgins, Timothy Harris, Kirsten S. Powers

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

A new species of Mesocriconema and a unique assemblage of plant-parasitic nematodes was discovered in a heath bald atop Brushy Mountain in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Mesocriconema ericaceum n. sp., a species with males, superficially resembles M. xenoplax. DNA barcoding with the mitochondrial COI gene provided evidence of the new species as a distinct lineage. SEM revealed significant variability in arrangement of labial submedian lobes, plates, and anterior and posterior annuli. Three other nematodes in the family Criconematidae were characterised from the heath bald. Ogma seymouri, when analysed by statistical parsimony, established connections with isolates from north-eastern Atlantic coastal and north-western Pacific coastal wet forests. Criconema loofi has a southern Gulf Coast distribution associated with boggy soils. Criconema cf. acriculum is known from northern coastal forests of California. Understanding linkages between these species and their distribution may lead to the broader development of a terrestrial soil nematode biogeography.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)879-903
Number of pages25
JournalNematology
Volume18
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - 2016

Keywords

  • All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory
  • Criconema cf. acriculum
  • Criconema loofi
  • Criconematina
  • DNA barcode
  • Ogma seymouri
  • biogeography
  • molecular
  • morphology
  • morphometrics
  • phylogeography
  • plant-parasitic nematode
  • statistical parsimony
  • taxonomy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Agronomy and Crop Science

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