Fauna and ecological composition of nematodes of Cucurbitaceae family plants

Abstract

The article presents information about phytonematodes found in the soil of Cucurbitaceae family crops and their roots in Romitan district of Bukhara region. As a result of the research, 43 types of phytonematodes were identified. According to the ecological classification, 16 species of devisaprobionts and 11 species of mycohelminths dominated, 8 species of phytohelminths (ectoparasites, endoparasites), 6 species of eusaprobionts, and 2 species of pararhizobionts. In the studied plants, phytonematodes differed from each other in terms of species diversity and the number of their individuals. The maximum number of species was observed in melon and watermelon (30/29 species). The least was recorded in the cucumber crop (26 species). In terms of the number of individuals, the largest number of nematodes was found in watermelon (407) and cucumber (308), and less in melon (245). This situation is explained by the development of the above-ground part of the plants, the condition of the soil and the level of agrotechnical measures applied to the crops. Pairwise comparison of Cucurbitaceae family crops nematode faunal complexes revealed that they are neither exactly similar nor strongly different from each other, the similarity between nematode faunal complexes ranged from 0.50% to 0.67%. Such a similarity indicates that their faunal complexes were formed in the same ecological environment. Bitylenchus dubius from ectoparasites and Ditylenchus dipsaci from endoparasites are relatively common species among the parasitic phytonematodes identified in the crops.