First Report of the Nematode, Tylenchulus palustris, Parasitizing Peach in Virginia

In the fall of 2005 during routine sampling for plant-parasitic nematodes in a nematicide evaluation trial, juveniles of Tylenchulus palustris Inserra, Vovlas, O'Bannon & Esser, 1988 (1) were recovered by semi-automatic elutriation and centrifugation. Mature, sedentary females were hand picked from infected root tissues. The nematodes were parasitizing peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch.) at Crown Orchards Purvis Farm (37°51.638′N 78°43.062′W, elevation 230 m.) on U.S. Highway 29S near Faber, VA. Twelve of eighty samples contained the nematode with a density that varied from 10 to 70 nematodes per 500 ml 3 of soil. Such low numbers may have been due to the severe state of decline of the 30+-year-old peach orchard; the stunted and nearly dead trees were being removed at the time of sampling. Ironically, this nematode was discovered by the first author more than 20 years ago in this same location before it was described as a new species; however, additional research is necessary to determine the role that this nematode played in the decline of this orchard. Identification was based on morphology of the female including the postvulval body terminus and morphometrics of 15 second-stage juveniles. Voucher specimens were placed in the Virginia Tech Nematode Collection and voucher cultures are maintained in the Virginia Tech Nematode Culture Collection. T. palustris was originally found in Florida parasitizing Carolina ash (Fraxinus caroliniana Mill.) and saltbush (Baccharis halimifolia L.) (1). This nematode has been reported previously on peach in Alabama, Arkansas, and Georgia (2). References: (1) R. N. Inserra et al. J. Nematol. 20:266, 1988. (2) R. N. Inserra et al. J. Nematol. 22:45, 1990.