Ditylenchus laurae sp. n. (Tylenchida: Anguinidae) from Poland – a new species of the D. dipsaci complex associated with a water plant, Potamogeton perfoliatus L.
The genus Ditylenchus consists of more than 60 species, some of which are plant parasites. In this paper we report on Ditylenchus laurae sp. n. from Poland, a new species associated with the aquatic plant, Potamogeton perfoliatus L. Ditylenchus laurae sp. n. is characterised by a long and slender body with L = 1881 (1523-2095) μm and 1875 (1690-2089) μm, a = 88.8 (72.5-102.5) and 89.7 (71.9-97.9), stylet length = 10.8 (9.6-12.1) μm and 8.3 (7.7-9.0) μm, tail length = 117.2 (103.5-126.7) μm and 102.4 (98.3-113.6) μm in females and males, respectively; four incisures, rounded stylet knobs, long basal bulb (about ten times as long as wide), post-vulval uterine sac from 4.3-5.6 vulval body diam. long, and mucronate tail. Characterisation using the ITS rRNA, COI and hsp90 gene sequences was conducted and a phylogenetic analyses revealed that D. laurae sp. n. belongs to the D. dipsaci complex.