Disease Note

First Report of Pratylenchus safaensis in the United States. R. E. Motsinger, University of Georgia, Athens 30602. N. A. Minton, USDA-ARS, Coastal Plain Experiment Station, Tifton, GA 31793. Plant Dis. 70:259. Accepted for publication 22 November 1985. Copyright 1986 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-70-259f.

In 1981 and 1984, Pratylenchus safaensis Fortuner, 1973, was found in Emanuel and Bacon counties, Georgia, associated in high numbers (600–1,308 nematodes per 100 cm³ of soil) with soybean roots. Root samples also yielded over 600 nematodes per 3 gm of roots. This is the only known occurrence of P. safaensis in the United States. The nematode was originally described from Africa in 1973. Identification was made by A. M. Golden, USDA-ARS nematologist in Beltsville, MD. Symptoms on soybeans were stunting and premature leaf drop. Reported hosts for P. safaensis include corn, millet, soybean, rice, cotton, and sorghum. The source of infestation could not be traced to known movement of plant material or soil from reported infested areas of Africa. Known distribution in Georgia is restricted to the origin sites in the two counties.