Parasitic Nematodes of Anguininae Subfamily (Tylenchida, Nematoda) Wild-Plant Plants of Zarafshan Mountains in Uzbekistan

Abstract

The aim of the research was to study the distribution of parasitic nematodes of the subfamily
Anguininae on wild plants in the mountain ecosystems of Zarafshan. Objects of study are gall-forming
nematodes of the genus Anguina, parasitic on the aerial parts of perennial wild plants. The material
was collected by the route method on the slopes of the Zarafshan mountains of the Samarkand region
of Uzbekistan. For convenience of analysis, the examined mountain slopes were conditionally divided
into four high tiers (zones): piedmont, lower, middle, high) vertically. 8 species of wild perennial
plants were examined. Infection with the parasitic nematode Mesoanguina picridis was noted on
Cousinia integrifolia F., Phlomis salicifolia Rg., Centaurea squarrosa W. and Acroptilon repens L.
On the seeds of Poa bulbosum T., larvae of the nematode Anguina sp. not established to kind.
Infection of plants with nematodes was focal in nature. The degree of infection of plants with parasitic
nematodes is dependent on altitude zones, vegetation cover and climatic conditions. The foothill
steppe zone was free of parasitic nematodes. A relatively strong infection of plants was observed in
the middle and upper high-altitude zones. The dependence of the degree of infection of plants with
parasitic nematodes on high-altitude belts, vegetation cover, and climatic conditions was revealed. It
is assumed that the evolution of nematodes of the subfamily the primary foci of infection of plants with
parasitic nematodes of the genus Anguina could have arisen prehistorically shortly after the
formation of vegetation on the plain. Subsequently, as a result of mountain building processes, plants
with water flowing from the upper zones of the mountains could have caused secondary foci of
infection in the lower altitude zones of the mountains