Incidence of Plant-Parasitic Nematodes Associated with Olive Planting Stocks at Nurseries in northern Iran

Nematode were determined in 189 soil and root samples collected from 18 olive nurseries in Golestan province (northern Iran), between 2004 and 2008. which contain eight species belonging to eight grnera The important nematodes detected, in order of decreasing frequency of infestation (percentage of samples), were Aphelenchus avenae, Meloidogyne javanica, Irantylenchus sp., Pratylenchus thornei, Helicotylenchus pseudorobustus, Boleodorus thylactus, Psilenchus hilarulus and Merlinius brevidens. No disease symptoms were noted on aboveground organs of infected plants. However, population densities of Pratylenchus and Meloidogyne spp. were at potentially damaging levels in most of the olive nurseries surveyed. Large numbers of egg masses were present within the galled root tissues that might contribute to secondary infections.