Nematodes and agriculture in continental Argentina. An overview

In Argentina, soil nematodes constitute a diverse group of invertebrates. This widely distributed group includes more than two hundred currently valid species, among which the plant-parasitic and entomopathogenic nematodes are the most remarkable. The former includes species that cause damages to certain crops (mainly Meloidogyne spp, Nacobbus aberrans, Ditylenchus dipsaci, Tylenchulus semipenetrans, and Xiphinema index), the latter includes various species of the Mermithidae family, and also the genera Steinernema and Heterorhabditis. There are few full-time nematologists in the country, and they work on taxonomy, distribution, host-parasite relationships, control, and different aspects of the biology of the major species. Due to the importance of these organisms and the scarcity of information existing in Argentina about them, nematology can be considered a promising field for basic and applied research.