HOST STATUS OF SOME WEEDS TO MELOIDOGYNE SPP, PRATYLENCHUS SPP, HELICOTYLENCHUS SPP AND ROTYLENCHULUS-RENIFORMIS ASSOCIATED WITH VEGETABLESCULTIVATED IN POLYTUNNELS IN MARTINIQUE

During a survey of the nematodes associated with weeds in vegetables g rowing in plastic polytunnels in Martinique, 33 weed species in 26 gen era and 15 families were collected to extract nematodes from the roots . Results of this survey showed that-weeds mainly belong to five famil ies: the Asteraceae, Amaranthaceae, Poaceae, Euphorbiaceae, and the Po rtulacaceae and only four phytoparasitic nematode genera were consiste ntly recovered. Four weed species were found to be nematode free. All the others were considered nematode reservoirs. The most frequently en countered nematodes were Rotylenchulus reniformis, followed by differe nt species of Meloidogyne, Helicotylenchus, and Pratylenchus. When pre sent, root infestation by Meloidogyne:ne always outnumbered the other nematode species. It is noticeable that, during this survey, only thre e weed species exhibited typical symptoms of galls and deformed roots when infected by Meloidogyne.