Assessment of genetic diversity within the Merodon ruficornis species group (Diptera: Syrphidae) by RAPD analysis

Abstract

As one of the most distinct groups in the hoverfly genus Merodon, the monophyletic ruficornis species group has been the focus of several studies using different approaches. Molecular methods have shown incongruences between morphological and molecular data. In the present study, we investigated four species of the Merodon ruficornis group (i.e. M. loewi, M. armipes, M. papillus and M. hoplitis) with the aim of detecting intra-and interspecific genetic diversity, and we examined the usefulness of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) in an integrative taxonomic approach to species delimitation. Analysis of Nei's genetic variation over all loci showed that genetic diversity for the analyzed Merodon species was h=0.24. Based on UPGMA, PCoA and Bayesian clustering analyses, our results clearly differentiated four groups that correspond to the four morphologically-defined Merodon species. Among the analyzed species, M. armipes and M. hoplitis showed the lowest level of genetic divergence; M. loewi was clearly separated from both M. armipes and M. papillus. Based on our data, we propose the use of RAPD-PCR as an additional tool for resolving taxonomic problems within Merodon.

Genetic variation of Limnophora marginata Stein, 1904 (Diptera: Muscidae), associated with an altitudinal gradient in Pedro Moncayo Canton, Pichincha, Ecuador

“…The analyses of the different estimators of genetic variability inter and intrapopulation were useful since they allow the identification of an heterogenous population of L. marginata for both populations, Tocachi and Jerusalem, establishing a high intrapopulation genetic variation. The genetic diversity results are supported by the research conducted by Andrić et al (2017) in populations of Merodon ruficornis Meigen, 1822 (Diptera: Syrphidae) in different localities. Its findings of the existence of variability were related with a wide distribution from the species without an influence of geographic distance.…”

Three new species of the Merodon ruficornis group (Diptera: Syrphidae) discovered at the edge of its range

“…Molecular evidence based on COI sequence divergence represents one of the most widely used molecular approaches for discriminating closely related hoverfly species. Despite the great utility of COI gene sequences in resolving taxonomic relationships within the genus Merodon, molecular identification of species in the M. ruficornis group remains challenging (Vujić et al 2012;Andrić et al 2017). Neither the 3' nor 5' COI fragments have proven sufficiently informative in this species group (Milankov et al 2008;Ståhls et al 2009).…”

Molecular identification of three species of Oncideres (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) using RAPD markers

“…Despite the reproducibility problem of this technique, rAPD markers have become one of the most commonly used techniques to identify genetic differences between populations or species and serve as an addition tool for taxon delimitation (Jain et al 2010, Bajpai 2016a, Singh et al 2016, Andrić et al 2017, even when closely related species are considered (Singh et al 2011, Bajpai 2016b. This technique has been used in the identification of many insect species: Acromyrmex (Hymenoptera) (grutzmacher et al 2007), aphids of the family Aphididae (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha) (Helmi and Khafaga 2011), cockroaches (Dictyoptera) (Neekhra et al 2012 (Queiroz et al 2007, Haghighi and Kumar 2017, Sharma and Singh 2017, Yadav et al 2017.…”