First report of Meloidogyne hapla on kiwifruit in South Africa

Kiwi is becoming one of the most important fruit in subtropical regions of South Africa with altitudes that confer sufficient chilling requirements. During a survey on biodiversity of plant-parasitic nematodes of kiwi in Magoebaskloof in Limpopo Province, several plant-parasitic nematodes were discovered, with Meloidogyne species occurring at the highest frequency. Nematodes were sampled from roots and the rhizosphere of one stunted Kiwi tree, extracted using the tray method and then fixed. The morphological characters fit well with those of M. hapla. The molecular approach using ITS and 28S rDNA, along with the related phylogenetic analysis, placed the examined population in a group with other populations of M. hapla. Kiwi is being reported as a new host for M. hapla in South Africa.