Pratylenchus Pseudocoffeae From Florida and Its Relationship With P. Gutierrezi and P. Coffeae

Morphology and morphometrics of Pratylenchus sp. from aster in Florida, mum and artemisia in Japan (P pseudocoffeae), coffee in Costa Rica and Guatemala (putative populations of P gutierrezi), citrus in Florida (P coffeae), and coffee in Indonesia (P coffeae) were studied to: i) compare the morphologies of the lesion nematodes from aster and those of P. gutierrezi, P. pseudocoffeae, and P coffeae, ii) describe the morphological variability of putative P gutierrezi populations originating from coffee in Costa Rica and Guatemala, and iii) characterize the en face lip morphology of P. coffeae from the type host and near the type locale in Java, Indonesia. Pratylencl2us coffeae from citrus in Florida differed from all other populations, including P coffeae from coffee in Indonesia, in having medial and lateral lips that were fused rather than separate, when viewed en face with scanning electron microscopy. Pharyngeal overlap length and distance from the base of the oesophageal gland lobe to the head end were the only morphometric characters of diagnostic value to separate female P. p.seudocoffeae from P gutierrezi and P coffeae from Indonesia. Pratylenchus pseudocoffeae females also had subhemispherical or hemispherical tails with smooth termini vs subcylindrical tails with bluntly rounded and sometimes coarsely annulated termini for P. gutierrezi., The Pratylenchus population from aster in Florida most closely resembled P pseudocoffeae based on tail and en,face lip morphology, long pharyngeal overlap (60.5-114.5 pm), long distance between the base of the oesophageal gland lobe to the head end (140.5-209.5 pm), and multivariate analyses of morphometric variables. The head pattern of P. coffeae from coffee in Indonesia differed from patterns previously attributed to this species and provides sufficient evidence to reconsider the taxonomic status of P coffeae, P gutierrezi, P. pseudocoffeae, and closely related species.