Research Article

Occurrence and abundance of nematodes in almond growing areas in Karaman, Türkiye and their relationships with almond characteristics

Volume: 50 Number: 1 March 31, 2026
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Occurrence and abundance of nematodes in almond growing areas in Karaman, Türkiye and their relationships with almond characteristics

Abstract

Almond, Prunus dulcis Rouchy (Rosales: Rosaceae) is an economically important plant species widely grown in Türkiye. Plant parasitic nematodes have been known to affect the economical production of almond. In this study, the occurrence and abundance of plant parasitic and free-living nematodes were determined in almond-growing areas in Karaman province in 2024. The soil samples were collected from 40 almond orchards and two wild almond production areas. Each orchard was represented by 20 subsamples collected in a zigzag pattern with 20-25 footsteps in between using a 2.5 cm diameter soil corer from the projection area of the trees. The nematodes were extracted from soil samples using petri dish technique for 72 hours. The most prevalent plant parasitic nematodes were Ditylenchus spp. Filipjev, 1936 (Rhabditida: Anguinidae) (97.6%), Tylenchus spp. Bastian, 1865 (Rhabditida: Tylenchidae) (88.1%) and Pratylenchus spp. Filipjev, 1936 (Rhabditida: Pratylenchidae) (83.3%). The populations of most prevalent nematode species Ditylenchus spp. and Pratylenchus spp. ranged between 0-143.9 and 0-197.4 nematodes per 100 g dry soil, respectively. The population of Cephalobus spp. Bastian, 1865 (Rhabditida: Cephalobidae) was positively correlated with 10-year-old, seed rootstocks almonds cultivated under rainfed conditions.

Keywords

Supporting Institution

This research has been financially supported by Turkish Scientific and Technical Research Council (TUBITAK) (Project no: 124O205). Pratylenchus thornei culture as positive control material for molecular identification was provided by Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal Üniversity, Agricultural Faculty, Plant Protection Department.

Project Number

TUBITAK Project no: 124O205

Ethical Statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Thanks

This research has been financially supported by Turkish Scientific and Technical Research Council (TUBITAK) (Project No: 124O205). Pratylenchus thornei culture as positive control material for molecular identification was provided by Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University, Agricultural Faculty, Plant Protection Department.

References

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Nematology

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

March 31, 2026

Submission Date

November 25, 2025

Acceptance Date

February 12, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 1970 Volume: 50 Number: 1

APA
Yavuzaslanoğlu, E., Terzi Aksoy, B., Sesli, Y., Pınar, F. N., & Ateş Sönmezoğlu, Ö. (2026). Occurrence and abundance of nematodes in almond growing areas in Karaman, Türkiye and their relationships with almond characteristics. Turkish Journal of Entomology, 50(1), 25-41. https://doi.org/10.16970/entoted.1816620