Response of Origanum dictamnus L. (Cretan dittany) to Five Species of Root-Knot Nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.)

Cretan dittany (Origanum dictamnus L.) is an aromatic and medicinal plant, local endemic of the island of Crete, Greece, occurring naturally to high rocky mountain habitats. Due to its commercial interest, cultivation of this plant has been recently expanded. Since natural infestations by Meloidogyne spp. in field cultivated plants have not been found, its response to infection by M. javanica, M. incognita, M. arenaria, M. hapla and M. luci was investigated in pot experiments. In all experiments, roots of dittany plants exhibited neither galls nor egg masses in contrast to the roots of tomato plants used as controls. Therefore, Cretan dittany appears to be resistant to the five Meloidogyne species tested.