Morphological and molecular diagnostics for plant-parasitic nematodes: working together to get the identification done

Nematodes are considered one of the most difficult organisms to identify due to their microscopic size, morphological similarity, limited number of distinguishable taxonomic characters and overlapping morphometric measurements. However, there are few trained nematode taxonomists remaining, primarily due to retirement without replacement and/or young scientists' lack of interest in classical taxonomy. Due to the continuing decline in classical taxonomic expertise of many taxa including Nematoda, there is an increasing reliance on developing molecular-based diagnostic protocols to identify pests...