author(s)
P Kalaiarasan, Chaitra G Bhat, Alkesh Hada, Nisha Jaiswal and Uma Rao

abstract
Guava is a tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions of the world. It is the fourth important commercial fruit crop grown in India. Sustainable production of guava is facing challenges due to both above- and below-ground pests. Root-knot nematodes (RKN; Meloidogyne spp.) have emerged as serious belowground pests of guava in India causing severe damage leading to death of established trees. In the present study, Meloidogyne spp. with varied perennial patterns have been found from the guava plants for the first time from IARI, New Delhi Orchard. Morphological characterization using female perineal pattern and molecular analysis using SCAR (Sequence Characterised Amplified Region), ITS rDNA, D2-D3 expansion segments of 28S rDNA and partial Cytochrome oxidase I (COI) mitochondrial DNA markers confirmed the identity as Meloidogyne enterolobii. A confirmed South-Indian population of M. enterolobii collected from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu was used as positive control for species confirmation. Phylogenetic analysis of the Indian isolate based on sequence information of ITS, D2/D3 and COI markers revealed that Delhi population clustered with other populations of M. enterolobii. This is the first report on detailed molecular characterization of an Indian isolate of M. enterolobii based on four markers that established the phylogentic relationship with global populations.