Analysis of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from a normalized cDNA library and isolation of EST simple sequence repeats from the invasive cotton mealybug Phenacoccus solenopsis

Abstract

The cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley, is a serious and invasive pest. At present, genetic resources for studying P. solenopsis are limited, and this negatively affects genetic research on the organism and, consequently, translational work to improve management of this pest. In the present study, expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were analyzed from a normalized complementary DNA library of P. solenopsis. In addition, EST-derived microsatellite loci (also known as simple sequence repeats or SSRs) were isolated and characterized. A total of 1107 high-quality ESTs were acquired from the library. Clustering and assembly analysis resulted in 785 unigenes, which were classified functionally into 23 categories according to the Gene Ontology database. Seven EST-based SSR markers were developed in this study and are expected to be useful in characterizing how this invasive species was introduced, as well as providing insights into its genetic microevolution.

First report of the cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) in Greece

“…Information on the patterns of dispersal, invasions and source of invading populations, as well as on the environmental and evolutionary factors that might have promoted the success of biological invasions, can be obtained from genetic data (Cristescu, 2015; Estoup & Guillemaud, 2010; Tay & Gordon, 2019). The genetic diversity of the species has been already addressed in population‐level genetic studies (Ahmed et al., 2015; Ashfaq et al., 2010; Badshah et al., 2017; Chen et al., 2012; Chu et al., 2009; Li et al., 2015; Ma et al., 2019; Pacheco da Silva et al., 2014; Ricupero et al., 2021; Singh et al., 2012; Thomas & Ramamurthy, 2014; Wu et al., 2015; Zhao, Watson, et al., 2014; Zhao, Sun, et al., 2014). Based on the phylogenetic analyses of the previous findings, two distinct evolutionary lineages appear to exist in P. solenopsis which have differences in aspects of their morphology, ecology and behaviour (Thomas & Ramamurthy, 2014).…”

The Cotton Mealybug Is Spreading along the Mediterranean: First Pest Detection in Italian Tomatoes

“…Wu et al [16] asserted that the invasion of P. solenopsis into China may have originated from Pakistan rather than the USA. Nonetheless, because molecular data provide evidence that P. solenopsis may comprise a cryptic species complex, more samples from different world regions and more types of markers to analyze the genetic differentiation of the species should be considered to understand the invasion history and invasion pattern of P. solenopsis worldwide [46,47].…”

Invasion biology of the cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley: Current knowledge and future directions

“…Genetic variation and diversity of P. solenopsis Based on studies of other invasive insects (Tsutsui et al 2000;Johnson and Starks 2004;Grapputo et al 2005;Yang et al 2012;Piiroinen et al 2013;Kononov et al 2016), we predict that the genetic diversity of P. solenopsis is being influenced by a number of factors, such as pre-invasion history, the number/origin of introductions, transportation, demographic events (e.g., population bottlenecks and founder events), selection, gene mutation rate, and recombination. Few of these factors have been explored, although some researchers have addressed the genetic diversity of this mealybug (Thomas and Ramamurthy 2014;Ahmed et al 2015;Li et al 2015;Wu et al 2015). Future studies will provide insights into the evolutionary process of this mealybug and its contribution to invasion success.…”