ISSN 1314-6246 Valcheva et al. 2017 J. BioSci. Biotech. 2017, 6(3): 191-195 RESEARCH ARTICLE Silvia Valcheva Distribution and Molecular Identification of Harry Samaliev Milena Kostova Rice White Tip Nematode Aphelenchoides besseyi in Rice Growing Areas in Bulgaria Authors’ addresses: ABSTRACT Agricultural University - Plovdiv, 12 A study was conducted to determine the distribution of Aphelenchoides besseyi using Mendeleev Blvd., Plovdiv 4000, Bulgaria. molecular identification and the nematode effect on yield components in the major rice growing areas in Bulgaria. One hundred forty one paddy seed samples were Correspondence: collected in 2015 and 2016. Molecular identification was performed based on the Silvia Valcheva previously developed SSU rDNA detection analysis. Тhe specific primer Agricultural University - Plovdiv, 12 Mendeleev Blvd., Plovdiv 4000, combinations: 5′-GCGGGATTCGTGGTTC*T and 5′- Bulgaria CGACATGCCGAAACATGAG were used. Analysis showed that 23,4 %, from the Tel.: +359 32 654200 collected samples, were infested with A. besseyi in the 10 studied locations in Fax: +359 32 633157 e-mail:
[email protected] Plovdiv, Pazardzhik and Stara Zagora rice growing areas. In the infested samples, nematode densities were in the range 0-396 specimens/100 paddy seed. The effect of Article info: A. besseyi on cv. Osmancik variety showed that panicles with white tip symptoms Received: 11 December 2017 were significantly shorter (17.2%) and lighter (39.5%) than those without white tip Accepted: 11 April 2018 symptoms.This is the first molecular report for the presence of A. besseyi in Bulgaria. Key words: Aphelenchoides besseyi, rice, Bulgaria, morphology, SSU rDNA – based detection analysis, PCR countries around the world (Stoyanov, 1978).