Heterorhabditidoides chongmingensis gen. nov., sp. nov. (Rhabditida: Rhabditidae), a novel member of the entomopathogenic nematodes.

During a recent soil sample survey in Eastern China, a new entomopathogenic nematode species, collected from the Chongming Islands in the southern-eastern area of Shanghai, was discovered. Morphological characteristics of different developmental stages of the nematode combined with molecular data showed that this nematode is a new genus of Rhabditidae, and described as Heterorhabditidoides chongmingensis gen. nov., sp. nov., for that it shares more morphological characteristics with heterorhabditids than with steinernematids. For males, the papillae formula of bursa is 1, 2, 3, 3, with constant papillae number in the terminal group, stoma tubular-shaped and about 1.5 head width; cheilorhabdions cuticularized, esophageal collar present and long, median bulb present. For infective juveniles, EP=90 (80-105)microm, ES=104 (92-120)microm, tail length=111 (89-159)microm, and a=19.1 (15-21). The percentages of the nucleotides A, T, C and G in the ITS1 regions of the new species are significantly different from those of heterorhabditids and other rhabditids. Molecular phylogenetic trees based on 18S rDNA and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences data revealed that the new entomopathogenic nematode species forms a monophyletic group, which is a sister group of the clade comprised of some genera of Rhabditidae.