Morphological and Molecular Diagnosis of Root Knot Nematode Species Associated with Olive Seedling and Trees in Baghdad, Babil and Karbala/ Iraq

The study was aimed to conduct a field survey to identify the Root knot nematodes species associated with olive trees and nurseries in provinces of Baghdad /Al- Zaafaraniya, Babil /Al- Sada, Karbala /Al-Atishi and Al-Hindiah Horticulture Center. Baghdad /Al- Zaafaraniya had the highest percentage of disease incidence (100%) and root-knot index (3) in the field, while nurseries under shade conditions in the same region had the least percentage of disease incidence and root-knot index (6.6% and 0), respectively. Two species of root-knot nematodes M. javanica and M.incognita were identified in all study location, the perineal pattren technique was used for identification .M.incognita identification was molecularly confirmed by the PCR to be used in all study trials.