Identification of three Me/oidogyne species from Cameroon by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR)

Abstract

A study was conducted to identify some Cameroonian Mefoidogyne species by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Meloidogyne isolates from various host crops in fifteen localities of the South West, West, and North West Provinces of Cameroon, were cultured on susceptible tomato in a greenhouse in Munster, Germany. DNA was extracted from Meloidogyne second-stage juveniles extracted from the tomato roots, and used in the PCR as template. The PCR product was loaded onto a 2% agarose gel, and the DNA bands on the gel visualised under short-wave (254 nm) ultraviolet transillumination. The Mefoidogyne species were identified by comparing their DNA fragment sizes with the molecular weight marker in the same gel. Three sizes of DNA amplification products were obtained: 1200 base pairs (bp), 1500 bp, and 420 bp corresponding, respectively, to M. incognita, M. hapla, and M. arenaria. No DNA amplification was observed using the M. javanica specific primers. Meloidogyne incognita was the most common species; M. hapfa was found in areas of high altitudes such as Pastoral, Djutitsa (West Province) and Bambui Upper Farm (North West Province); while M. arenaria was identified only in peanut (A. hypogaea), its principal host.

Key words: DNA amplification, DNA-based identification, Mefoidogyne spp., Polymerase Chain Reaction