Detection of Meloidogyne species from wild herbaceous plants in non-crop fields in northwest Kyushu, Japan

Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) were surveyed from suitable wild herbaceous plant hosts in non-crop fields at an elevation of less than 200 m of northwest Kyushu by pulling out and observing the root systems for galls. Nematodes were detected in 10 out of 49 surveyed sites (20%): M. hapla in nine sites and M. incognita in one site. Nematodes were identified by perineal patterns of adult females or size of amplicon of partial mitochondrial DNA. Our survey suggests that M. hapla is the predominant species in non-crop fields in northwest Kyushu.