Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA Differs with Burrowing Nematode Collection Site, but not with Host Range.

The genetic variability of 12 burrowing nematode (Radopholus sp.) isolates from Central America, the Caribbean, and Florida, and one isolate from Ivory Coast were compared with RAPD analysis. A high degree of genetic similarity (>0.82) was determined for isolates from the Western Hemisphere. Genome similarity was greatest among isolates collected within a country. Among isolates collected in Central America and the Caribbean, burrowing nematodes from Belize and Guatemala were genetically more distant. However, the genome of the isolate from Ivory Coast was most dissimilar (>0.30). These results suggest that African and American burrowing-nematode isolates may have had different origins or that they have been geographically isolated for a sufficient amount of time to have accumulated genetic changes detectable by RAPD analysis. No relationship was found between the genomic similarity and extent of reproduction or damage to banana or citrus roots. Morphometric analysis involving eight of the isolates indicated that they were morphologically identical and values for morphometric parameters were well within the range previously published for banana and citrusparasitic burrowing nematodes.