Rev 04/04/2023
Tylenchina Tylenchoidea Pratylenchidae Pratylenchinae
Pratylenchus fallax Seinhorst 1968
Reported median body size for this species (Length mm; width micrometers; weight micrograms) - Click:
Originally reported from The Netherlands, from an apple orcherd with a grass cover. It is associated with cereals in Britain and in Canada was only found assocaited with grasses (Corbett, 1972; Yu, 2008).
Migratory endoparasite.
Pratylenchus fallax enters root tips, the root hair dregion and sites of lateral root emergence in wheat, barley and sugar beet. Many individuals penetrate roots at the same site. Roots of sugarbeet showed more damage and necrosis than those of wheat and barley. The endodermis became thickened and discolored in response to heavy attack. Lesions in the endodermis became visible in the roots between 4 days and two weeks after nematode penetration.
However, in sterile culture, reproduction of P. fallax was greater in roots of wheat and barley than those of sugar beet (Corbett, 1972).
Ecophysiological Parameters:
In wheat, barley and sugarbeet roots, The endodermis became thickened and discolored in response to heavy attack. Lesions in the endodermis became visible in the roots between 4 days and two weeks after nematode penetration (Corbett, 1972).
P. fallax severely damaged the roots of oilseed rape cv. Bienvenu in monoxenic culture. Tap roots were became necrotic and died after 20 days. However, P. fallax did not reproduce well on rape roots. (Webb, 1990).
Host Plant Resistance, Non-hosts and Crop Rotation alternatives:
Seinhorst, J.W. 1968. Three New Pratylenchus Species With Α Discussion of the Structure of the Cephalic Framework and of the Spermatheca in This Genus. Nematologica 14:497-510.
Corbett, D.C.M. 1972. The effect of Pratylenchus fallax on wheat barley and sugar beet roots. Nematologica 18:303-308.
Webb, R. M. 1990. Effects of the nematode Pratylenchus fallax on roots of oilseed rape (Brassica napus var. oleifera). Revue De Nematologie 13:115-117.
Yu, Q. 2008. Species of Pratylenchus (Nematoda: Pratylenchidae) in Canada: description, distribution, and identification. Canadian J. Plant Pathology 30:477-485.