An Improved Polymerase Chain Reaction Method for Identification of Four Major Root Knot Nematodes

A rapid and sensitive polymerase chain reaction(PCR)method for the detection and identification of four most common and economically important Meloidogyne spp.was developed.By using previously published primer #C2F3/#1108,fragments of three sizes were detected.The M.incognita and M.javanica reactions produced a 1.7 kb fragment;the M.arenaria reaction,a 1.1 kb fragment;and the M.hapla reaction resulted in a 0.5 kb fragment.Based on the sequence of oesophageal gland protein gene SEC-1,specific primer MI-F/MI-R was designed and tested for its amplification specificity and efficiency against populations of M.incognita.This resulted in two pairs of primers that were used in combination to reliably identify Meloidogyne incognita,M.arenaria,M.javanica and M.hapla.