Globodera tabacum

  

Contents

  

Rev 05/05/2026

Tobacco cyst nematode Classification Hosts
Morphology and Anatomy Life Cycle
Return to Globodera Menu Economic Importance Damage
Distribution Management
Return to Heteroderidae Menu Feeding  References
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Classification:

      Tylenchida
       Tylenchina
        Tylenchoidea
         Heteroderidae
          Punctoderinae
                  
Globodera tabacum (Lownsbery & Lownsbery, 1954) Behrens 1975

Four subspecies separated by small differences in morphology and in host range (per Subbotin et al., 2010):

Globodera tabacum solanacearum (type host horsenettle: Solanum carolinense)

Globodera tabacum tabacum (type host: tobacco)

Globodera tabacum virginiae (type host: horsenettle: Solanum carolinense)

Globodera tabacum argentinensis

The four subspecies have maximal intraspecific COI gene sequence diversity of 14.1%. Subspecies are differentiated by COI gene sequences with  large genetic distance between them. They cannot be distinctly differentiated on the basis of morphology and morphometrics alone (Subbotin et al., 2026).

Per Subbotin et al (2026). by definition, a subspecies consists of groups of populations that are either currently or potentially capable of interbreeding, but phylogenetically distinct from each other and separated by geography, ecological specialization, or other factors that limit gene flow (Mayr, 1963). It will continue to be of interest to study new populations from the same geographic area, to determine whether gene flow is occurring among the subspecies, with consequent potential impacts on host ranges and ecological fitness.

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Morphology and Anatomy:

Females:

  • Cyst stage present. 
  • Body globose, spheroidal, with a short neck and no terminal cone.
  • All eggs retained in body (no egg-mass).

 
Cysts of Globodera tabacum

Males:

  • Vermiform; body twisted into a C or S shape. 
  • Lateral field with four lines. 
  • Spicules greater than 30 µm in length, distally pointed. 
  • No cloacal tubus. 
  • Tail short, hemispherical.

Second-stage juveniles: Stylet less than 30 µm long.

 

Reported median body size for this species (Length mm; width micrometers; weight micrograms) - Click:
 
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Distribution:

  Described originally on tobacco in USA, recorded in Japan in greenhouse-grown eggplant in 1998 (Uehara and Momota, 2018).

Although reports of Globodera sp. on tobacco, generally inferred to be G. tabacum (sensu lato) (e.g. Shepherd and Barker 1990), molecular analyses of the all populations in all areas have not been conducted and many of the reports should be considered not comfirmed (Subbotin et al., 2026).

Per molecular and studies the four subspecies are distributed as follows (Subbotin et al., 2026):

Globodera tabacum tabacum occurs in North America  in Canada, Connecticut and Massachusetts, USA, southwest France, Spain, Italy and Japan

Globodera tabacum virginiae occurs in Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland, USA

Globodera tabacum solanacearum occurs in Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland, USA

Globodera tabacum argentinensis occurs on Argentina and is also reported from Italy.

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Economic Importance:

 

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Feeding:

Sedentary semi-endoparasite of roots

Feeding site and feeding patterns typical of genus Globodera.

Nurse cell system is a multinucleate syncytium.

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Hosts:

Tobacco and other Solanaceae.

For an extensive host range list for this species, click
 

Very narrow range: potato, tomato, and some weeds.

 

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Life Cycle:

Ecophysiological Parameters:

For Ecophysiological Parameters for this species, click If species level data are not available, click for genus level parameters

 
 
White females and cysts of Globodera tabacum on root surface.  
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Damage:

Stunted tobacco plants in a field infested with G. tabacum.

Photograph by J.A. Fox, VPI.

 

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Management:

  Host Plant Resistance, Non-hosts and Crop Rotation alternatives:

For plants reported to have some level of resistance to this species, click
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References:

Luc, Maggenti & Fortuner, Rev. Nematol. 11(2):159-176 (1988)

Shepherd, J.A. and Barker, K.R. 1990. Nematode parasites of tobacco. In: Luc, M., Sikora, R.A. & Bridge, J. (Eds). Plant-parasitic nematodes in subtropical and tropical agriculture. Wallingford, UK, CAB International, pp. 493-517

Subbotin, S.A., Fouville, D., Grenier, E. 2026. Molecular characterisation of the tobacco cyst nematode Globodera tabacum complex (Lownsbery & Lownsbery, 1954) Skarbilovich, 1959 with a description of G. tabacum subsp. argentinensis subsp. n. Nematology 26: 17-30.

Uehara, T. and Momota, Y. 2018. Reproduction of tobacco cyst nematode Globodera tabacum on several Japanese tomato cultivars. Nematological Research 48:27-30.


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Copyright © 1999 by Howard Ferris.
Revised: May 05, 2026.