First Morphological and Molecular Characterization of Paratylenchus vandenbrandei (Rhabditida: Tylenchulidae) in Iran.

Paratylenchus vandenbrandei, has been recovered from the rhizospheric soil of Euphrates poplar (Populus euphratica) in the Karkheh protected area of Khuzestan province, southwestern Iran. The species was identified as P. vandenbrandei by the presence of three lines in the lateral fields; conoid rounded lip region; presence of submedian lobes, a stylet 24.0-28.8 μm long; an excretory pore at the level of the anterior part of the pharyngeal bulb; a round-to-oval spermatheca; presence of vulval flaps; and a conoid tail, with a terminus that is rounded or slightly pointed in some specimens. Males have a conoid tail, with a rounded-to-slightly-pointed terminus. The phylogenetic relationships of the species were reconstructed and investigated using partial sequencing of the D2-D3 expansion segments of large subunits, as well as internal transcribed spacer regions (LSU D2-D3 and ITS rDNA) based on Bayesian inference (BI). P. vandenbrandei has formed a clade with P. neonanus, P. minor, P. nainianus, P. chongqinjensis, P. pedrami, P. baldaccii, P. leptos and P. rostrocaudatus with maximal support (BPP = 1.00). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of P. vandenbrandei in Iran and the first molecular characterization of the species worldwide.