Paratylenchus shenzhenensis: a new pest of Anthurium andraeanum in China
Paratylenchus shenzhenensis is a new nematode species which has recently been described. The first specimens were collected from the rhizosphere soil of Anthurium andraeanum in a nursery in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China. Later studies conducted in the Guangdong province have demonstrated that P. shenzhenensis is causing a slow decline on A. andraeanum plants. Infested commercial crops display a patchy distribution of stunted and yellowing plants. Heavily infested roots present brown to black rot, and the entire root mass is often destroyed. It is considered that the root rot symptoms caused by P. shenzhenensis are similar to those caused by Radopholus similis (EPPO A2 List). Although it seems that P. shenzhenensis is inducing a decline on A. andraeanum that develops slowly, the impacts that this nematode species might cause over the long term on the production of anthurium need to be further studied.
Sources
Wang K, Li Y, Xie H, Wu WJ, Xu CL (20136) Pin nematode slow decline of Anthurium andraeanum, a new disease caused by the pin nematode Paratylenchus shenzhenensis. Plant Disease 100(5), 940-945.
Wang K, Xie H, Li Y, Xu CC, Yu L, Wang DW (2013) Paratylenchus shenzhenensis n. sp. (Nematoda: Paratylenchinae) from the rhizosphere soil of Anthurium andraeanum in China. Zootaxa 3750(2), 167-175. http://mapress.com/zootaxa/2013/f/z03750p175f.pdf