A NEW RECORD OF TWO NEMATODES, MESORHABDITIS FRANSENI FUCHS, 1933 (MESORHABDITIDAE) AND PRATYLENCHUS GOODEYI SHER AND ALLEN, 1953 (PRATYLENCHIDAE) WITH MOLECULAR DESCRIPTION FROM IRAQ

A rhabditid Mesorhabditis franseni Fuchs, 1933 (Family, Mesorhabditidae) and pratylenchid nematode Pratylenchus goodeyi Sher and Allen, 1953 (Family, Pratylenchidae). They were illustrated by molecular aspects. All specimens of both genera were cultured and reproduced for DNA extraction. M. franseni (IRQ.ZAh2 PP528819.1 isolate) was characterized. P. goodeyi (IRQ.ZAh5 PP535537 isolate) was also characterized. Selected specimens of these two species were molecularly characterized using the partial ITS-rRNA gene sequences. The ITS-rRNA sequence of IRQ.ZAh2 PP528819.1 isolate had a range of (98.62%-100%) sequence homology with ITS-rRNA sequence of M. franseni available in NCBI database. While, the ITS-rRNA sequence of IRQ.ZAh5 PP535537 isolate had (100%) sequence homology with ITS-rRNA sequence of P. goodeyi available in NCBI database. M. franseni (IRQ.ZAh2 PP528819.1 isolate) and P. goodeyi (IRQ.ZAh5 PP535537 isolate) are Iraq's first documented instance of these species.