First Report of the Root-Knot Nematode Meloidogyne luci on Tomato in Serbia

Root-knot nematode (RKN) Carneiro, Correa, Almeida, Gomes, Deimi, Castagnone-Sereno, and Karssen, 2014 was described from Brazil, Chile and Iran, parasitizing in various crops (Carneiro et al. 2014). It was later also described from Slovenia, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Turkey and Guatemala (review in Gerič Stare et al. 2017). It is considered an extremely damaging pest as it has a wide host range and infects numerous higher plants, including monocotyledons and dicotyledons as well as herbaceous and woody plants. This species was included in the European Plant Protection Organisation Alert List of harmful organisms. In Europe, has been detected in both greenhouse and field agricultural production (review in Gerič Stare et al. 2017). Furthermore, has been shown to survive winter in the field under continental and sub-Mediterranean climatic conditions (Strajnar et al. 2011). In August 2021, an official survey for quarantine RKN in Serbia (Province Vojvodina) revealed in a greenhouse in the village of Lugovo (43043'32,562; 19008'55,168), near Sombor, yellowing, stunning and extensive root galls on tomato ( L.) cultivar Diva F1 caused by an unknown sp. (Fig. 1). As correct identification is essential for effective pest management program, the next step was to identify the nematode species. Morphological characterization performed on freshly isolated females revealed perineal patterns similar to (Kofoid and White, 1919) Chitwood, 1949. The shape was oval to squarish with the dorsal arch rounded to moderately high and without shoulders. The dorsal striae were wavy and continuous. The ventral striae were smooth and the lateral lines were weakly demarcated. The perivulval region was without striae (Fig. 2). The female stylet was robust with well-developed knobs and the stylet cone slightly curved dorsally. Although morphological characters was very variable, the nematode was suspected as based on comparison with originally described and populations from Slovenia, Greece and Turkey. Identification was achieved with subsequent species-specific PCR and sequence analysis. The nematode was determined to belong to the tropical RKN group and the group using two PCR reactions as described by Gerič Stare et al. (2019) (Figs. 3 and 4). Identification was confirmed by species-specific PCR of as described by Maleita et al. (2021), and a band of approximately 770 bp was obtained (Fig. 5). In addition, the identification was confirmed by sequence analyses. The region of mtDNA was