Diagnosis of potato rot nematode Ditylenchus destructor using PCR-RFLP

During an investigation of nematodes in the Moscow region of Russia in 2019, a known species Ditylenchus destructor was recovered from tubers of potato plants. The genus Destructor is one of the most problematic genera of plant-parasitic nematodes. The numerous species reported for this genus have been cited from various sources. Due to the morphological similarity of many species and the lack of separation characteristics, the identification of D. destructor is difficult. Molecular taxonomy and phylogeny were used to confirm the identification. In the current study, PCR-RFLP illustrative models for the amplification of the ITS-rRNA gene were provided with two enzymes that could recognize D. destructor in potato tubers. Analysis of the rDNA sequences spanning both ITS1-ITS2 regions was carried out on the collected populations. The digestion of the PCR product of the ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 region with the enzyme TaqI produced three fragments; 100, 190, 550, and with Tru1I, two fragments were produced; 300 and 480 bp. The obtained DNA sequences were compared with those DNA sequences deposited in GenBank of populations isolated in other countries. The results showed no distinction between populations isolated from different host plant species, including populations found in the Russian Federation. New sequences from ITS-rRNA were deposited in the GenBank under accession number MN122076, MN658597, MN658599, MN658637, MN658638.