Molecular characterisation of two known species of Paratylenchus Micoletzky, 1922 from Iran with notes on the validity of Paratylenchus audriellus Brown, 1959

During a survey on pin nematodes in western Iran, two populations of Paratylenchus audriellus and Paratylenchus tenuicaudatus were collected and subsequently analysed morphologically and molecularly. Paratylenchus audriellus is characterised by the long stylet (48-61 μm) and the typical female tail with a characteristic claw-like process with sharply pointed terminus. To our knowledge, the Iranian population of P. tenuicaudatus is the first record from Iran. The molecular characterisation of P. audriellus nematodes using the D2-D3 of 28S rRNA and the partial 18S rRNA gene sequences revealed that this species is clearly separated from P. straeleni and should be considered as a valid taxon.This study was financially supported by University of Tehran (Project no: 73130662/07/06). Iranian authors would like to thank Mr Shahab Esmaeili for his help during sampling and Dr R. Ghaderi (Shiraz University) for helpful comments. The Spanish authors thank C. Cantalapiedra-Navarrete (IAS-CSIC) for her excellent technical assistance, and grant AGR-136 from ‘Consejería de Economía, Innvovación y Ciencia’ from Junta de Andalucía, and Unión Europea, Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo regional, ‘Una manera de hacer Europa’.Peer reviewe