"The occurrence, identification and ecological studies of the cactus nematode from dragon fruit crops in Taiwan"

"The occurrence, identification and ecological studies of the cactus nematode from dragon fruit crops in Taiwan"

"Cactodera cacti was first observed on roots of dragon fruit (Hylocereus spp.) in central and southern Taiwan in 2011. The brown lemon-shaped cysts showed circumfenestrate and the egg shell were punctuated. Amplifying the rDNA ITS region from the 7 geographical populations all resulted in a 981 bp fragment and in 16 haplotypes. The haplotype 2 (JX051329) was the most prevailed type found in these populations. Eight species of the family Cactaceae tested in this study were the host of C. cacti, but Echinocactus grusonii and Rhipsalis cereuscula were not. C. cacti completed the life cycle between 35 to 40 days when inoculated on the dragon fruit and incubated at 32℃, and the egg hatching rates showed no significant differences under the temperatures ranging from 16 to 32°C. The impact of C. cacti on the dragon fruit yields is under investigation."