Use of isoenzyme and protein phenotypes to discriminate between six Pratylenchus species from Great Britain

Six species of Pratylenchus indigenous to Great Britain, P. crenatus, P. fallax, P. neglectus, P. penetrans, P. pinguicaudatus and P. thornei were analysed by slab gel electrophoresis to compare protein patterns and isoenzyme phenotypes of esterase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, phosphoglucose isomerase and phosphoglucomutase. Multiple electromorphs were obtained from all enzymes examined. The results demonstrated that isoenzyme phenotypes are useful to supplement the morphological characterisation of these nematode species. Pair-wise comparisons of the six species were performed giving coefficients of similarity in the range 11–41%. A dendrogram of the six species, generated from the five enzyme banding patterns, gave two groups: group 1 contained P. pinguicaudatus, P. fallax and P. thornei and group 2 contained P. penetrans, P. neglectus and P. crenatus.