First Report of Bitylenchus hispaniensis, Pratylenchoides alkani, and Helicotylenchus vulgarisin Association with Cultivated and Wild Olives in Crete, Greece and Molecular Identification of Helicotylenchus microlobusand Merlinius brevidens

Nematode samplings in cultivated and wild olive in Crete, Greece, yielded the presence of Bitylenchus hispaniensis, Helicotylenchus microlobus, Helicotylenchus vulgaris, Merlinius brevidens, and Pratylenchoides alkani. With the exception of H. microlobusand M. brevidens, reports of these plant-parasitic nematode species constitute new records for Greece. Bitylenchus hispaniensisis also reported for first time in a country outside of Spain, where it was originally described. Pratylenchoides alkaniis herein reported for the second time in the Mediterranean area and for the first time in association with olive. Two further populations of H. microlobusand H. vulgaris, from walnut and goji berry from Greece, were identified. Molecular data for all of these nematode species are provided, resulting in the first integrative identification of these Greek populations.