Preliminary survey of the pinewood nematode in Turkey

Abstract

A survey was conducted in the northern conifer forests of Turkey in 2003 and 2004 for the pinewood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus . Wood samples were collected from declining pine trees, located in the following target areas: Düzce, Ankara, Bolu, and Artvin. Nematodes were extracted from over 310 samples and were observed and identified. B. xylophilus was not detected in any samples. Bursaphelenchus species were only found in 6% of the samples. From the B. xylophilus - group, only the species B. mucronatus was reported. Species identification was performed from morphological characters, particularly male spicules, and by molecular analysis with ITS-RFLP