Molecular Characterisation and Phylogeny of 28S Region of Xiphinema index from Türkiye

Xiphinema index is a virus vector nematode and is highly distributed worldwide. The X. index population was recovered from a fig plantation (Ficus carica L.) in Tekirdağ, Türkiye, and the DNA of specimens was amplified with D2A and D3B primers to perform phylogenetic analysis. At first, the nematodes were identified morphologically and then molecularly. D2A and D3B primers were used in the analysis. After PCR, amplified DNA was sequenced for molecular purposes, and data from the D2-D3 region of the 28S rRNA molecule of X. index were subjected to GenBank sequence comparison using BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool), and the local sequence showed identity (98.26-99.81%) with several Xiphinema index hits. Local X. index sequence clustered close with Spanish (HM921406, HM921400, HM921399, HM921398, HM921363, HM921349, HM921347 and HM921364) and Crete/Greece (KJ802882) sequences in Neighbor-joining and Maximum likelihood analysis comparing the local sequence, 16 different X. index accessions and 13 accessions from various species.