Isabel Abrantes

In a survey for Burspahelenchus species in a declining centennial stone pine, Pinus pinea, in Portugal, few specimens of Potensaphelenchus stammeri were extracted from wood samples, and an isolate was established in fungus cultures. The Portuguese P. stammeri isolate was characterised and identified based on morphological and morphometric diagnostic characters of females and males and by sequencing the D2-D3 expansion region of a large subunit (LSU) ribosomal DNA. Phylogenetic analysis by the multiple sequence alignment of selected relevant D2-D3 sequences including sequences of different isolates of P. stammeri revealed that this Portuguese P. stammeri isolate forms a clade with other P. stammeri isolates. Potensaphelenchus stammeri is reported in Portugal, and it is associated with Pinus pinea; moreover, the morphological and morphometric data of a Portuguese isolate were presented for the first time.