Aisuo Wang, Gavin Ash, Mike Hodda and Farzad G. Jahromi
Pest snails are economically important pests of the grain industry. Nematode based bioagent appears to be a hope for controlling pest snails in an environment friendly way. Based on the dataset of 18S rRNA gene sequences, we propose a molecular phylogeny of nematodes baited with Cernuella virgata in soils collected from southern states of Australia. A total of 12 species (representing eight genera of nematodes) were identified and the inferred phylogenetic trees (Neighbor-Joining and Minium Evolution) placed them within three (I, IV and VII) out of the seven clades, indicating the possibility of multiple origins of snail parasitism. In Clade I and Clade VII, nematodes associated with Cernuella virgata formed sister group relationships with some slug – parasitic nematodes. We assume that snail – parasitic nematodes and slug - parasitic nematodes might share common ancestors in their evolutionary histories.
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Journal of Phylogenetics & Evolutionary Biology received 911 citations as per Google Scholar report