Presence of Meloidogyne enterolobii on Jalapeño pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) in Sinaloa, Mexico

Meloidogyne enterolobii (Me) is an emerging root-knot nematode (RKN) and the most important worldwide for its high aggressiveness and increasing geographical distribution. In Mexico only in watermelon and tomato has been reported. Here we report the presence of this nematode in Jalapeño pepper collected in the state of Sinaloa. The morphological and morphometric characteristics of the second-stage juveniles and adult females were similar to those described for Me. DNA sequencing and alignment analysis (BLAST/GenBank) showed that the SCAR and rDNA IGS2 fragments had a 99 % of identity, with Me DNA sequences present in the database. The results obtained indicate that the RKN detected corresponds to M. enterolobii. To our knowledge, this is the first report of this nematode in chilli pepper in this region of Mexico, considered of major economic importance for the variety of vegetables grown and the extension of the area sown.