ESTUDO MORFOMÉTRICO, FISIOLÓGICO E ENZIMÁTICO DE UMA POPULAÇÃO DE Rotylenchulus reniformis ASSOCIADA A Cucumis melo

Abstract

Among ten valid species within Rotylenchulus genus, R. reniformis is the economically most important. Polyfagous, the reniform nematode has been detected associated to high value crops in Brazil. However, variability among or within Rotylenchulus spp. populations has been poorly understood and studied. Identification of Rotylenchulus species is based on morphological characters of immature females and presence of males, but there is a lack of biochemical researches. The objectives of this study were to morphometrically characterize one R. reniformis population associated to commercial melon (Cucumis melo) crop grown in Baraúnas municipality, Rio Grande do Norte State; to compare L, V and s mean values to the other populations characterized as R. reniformis, from different Brazilian and North American states, and African countries; to identify the parasitic race and to develop a protocol to define the a-esterase phenotype. The results confirmed the specific population identification focused in this research which confidence interval mean values of L, V and s enclosed mean values from the other populations. The Baraúnas-RN population was characterized as race A. The used protocols did not allow to characterize an a-esterase phenotype for R. reniformis.