Genetic characterization of Bactrocera fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) from Northeastern India based on DNA barcodes

Abstract

The Northeastern region of India, one of the mega biodiversity hot spots has enormous potential for the production of fruits and vegetables. Fruit flies of the genus Bactrocera Macquart are important pests of fruits and vegetables, and one of the limiting factors in successful production of these commodities. The relationship among some of the species is unclear due to their high molecular and morphological similarities. Moreover, due to the significant morphological resemblance between fruit fly species, reliable identification is very difficult task. We genetically characterized 10 fruit fly species of the genus Bactrocera by using standard DNA barcoding region of COI gene. The characterization and identification of eight species were straight forward. This study was unable to establish the molecular identity of Bactrocera sp. 2. Within the 547 bp region of partial COI gene, there were 157 variable sites of which 110 sites were parsimony informative, 153 were synonymous substitutions and 4 were non-synonymous substitutions. The estimate of genetic divergence among the ten species was in the range of 0-21.9% and the pairwise genetic distance of Bactrocera. (Bactrocera) dorsalis (Hendel) with B. (B.) carambolae was only 0.7%. Phylogenetic analysis formed separate clades for fruit and vegetable infesting fruit flies. B. (B.) aethriobasis Hardy, B. (B.) thailandica and B. (B.) tuberculata (Bezzi) have been reported for the first time from the Northeastern India. The information generated from this study would certainly have implications for pest management, taxonomy, quarantine and trade.

DNA Barcoding of Economically Important Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) from the Lower Gangetic Plains of Eastern India

“…Numerous of these are considered serious pests of commercial crops, causing billion-dollar losses every year [7]. Tephritid fruit flies are responsible for significant losses of 40-80% [7a] in fruits and vegetables, and to increase commercial output, they are frequently the focus of extensive pesticide treatments [8].…”

“…Since fruits and vegetables are both export-oriented agricultural products, there is growing concern that fruit fly pest species may be migrating due to human intervention due to the increased commerce between nations brought about globally. As a result, both domestic and international quarantine organizations take this seriously [8]. Adult females pierce the delicate fruits using an ovipositor to deposit their eggs beneath the skin.…”

“…Research on the effectiveness of DNA barcodes for fruit fly species identification has been conducted in India and worldwide. While members of fruit fly species complexes had less success [20,21,22], most barcoding of fruit flies had high percentages of successfully classifying unknown specimens to recognized species [23][24][25][26][27][28]18,8,29].…”

New Species-Specific Primers for Molecular Diagnosis of Bactrocera minax and Bactrocera tsuneonis (Diptera: Tephritidae) in China Based on DNA Barcodes

“…Barr et al (2017) used 539 DNA sequence records from 74 species of Anastrepha and demonstrated that these barcode data could distinguish four plant pests: Anastrepha grandis, A. ludens, A. serpentina and A. striata [29]. Manger et al (2018) genetically characterized 10 fruit fly species of the genus Bactrocera by using the standard DNA barcoding region of the COI gene, and the identification of eight species was straightforward [30]. However, the limitations of this method are also evident; for example, it is time-consuming and expensive.…”

Μελέτη Κοινοτήτων Συμβιωτικών Βακτηρίων Σε Έντομα Αγροτικής Και Περιβαλλοντικής Σημασίας

“…Για την ταυτοποίηση και διάκριση των ειδών του γένους χρησιμοποιούνται πολλαπλοί μορφολογικοί χαρακτήρες που εμπλουτίζονται συνεχώς από δεδομένα που προκύπτουν από μοριακές, κυτταρογενετικές, συμπεριφορικές και οικολογικές αναλύσεις (Clarke et al, 2005;Drew et al, 2008;Drew and Hancock, 1994;Krosch et al, 2013;Manger et al, 2018;Schutze et al, 2015a). Οι μορφολογικοί χαρακτήρες που χρησιμοποιούνται περιλαμβάνουν το σχήμα και τους χρωματισμούς της κεφαλής, του θώρακα, της κοιλίας και των εξαρτημάτων τους, την παρουσία ή όχι μικροτριχίων, τις νευρώσεις και τους χρωματισμούς των πτερύγων (Drew and Hancock, 1994 and Romig, 2013;Drew and Hancock, 1994 Romig, 2016, 2013;Schutze et al, 2017Schutze et al, , 2015aSchutze et al, , 2015b (Schutze et al, 2015a).…”