Occurrence of the Lance Nematode Hoplolaimus stephanus Infecting Bentgrass Agrostis stolonifera in Georgia, U.S.A

A high population of lance nematodes, Hoplolaimus spp., were found associated with creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.) in May 2019 in Georgia, United States. The nematode was pathogenic to bentgrass as its population increased by over threefold 180 days after inoculation under greenhouse conditions. Morphological measurements of body and stylet lengths of both mature females and males were similar to a grass population of Hoplolaimus stephanus from South Carolina. DNA sequence analyses of the D1-D3 expansion segments of the 28s gene identified the nematode as H. stephanus. The DNA sequence of the nematode was 99.7% identical to a H. stephanus isolate from South Carolina. Also, the PCR method using a species-specific primer set confirmed the identity of H. stephanus. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of H. stephanus Sher, 1963 infecting creeping bentgrass in Georgia.