Morphological and molecular diagnostics of Phytoseiulus persimilis and Phytoseiulus macropilis (Acari: Phytoseiidae)

Abstract

This study focuses on the diagnostics of two natural enemy species, belonging to the genus Phytoseiulus in the family Phytoseiidae (sub-family Amblyseiinae): P. macropilis and P. persimilis. These two species are of primary importance in biological control all over the world. However, they are morphologically very similar and specific diagnostics is difficult. This study utilizes mitochondrial molecular markers (12S rRNA and Cytb mtDNA) to differentiate these two species. Morphological analyses showed significant differences between P. persimilis and P. macropilis for 17 morphological characters of the 32 considered. However, despite these significant differences, the ranges of all characters overlap. Only the serration of the macroseta on the basitarsus (StIV) allows the differentiation between P. persimilis and P. macropilis. Despite these small morphological differences, molecular results, for both mitochondrial DNA fragments considered (rRNA and Cytb mtDNA), showed a clear delineation between the specimens of P. macropilis and P. persimilis. This study emphasizes (i) that only one morphological character (serration of the seta StIV) clearly separates these two species, and (ii) the usefulness of an automatical molecular and simple diagnostic tool for accurate differentiation of the two species and ensure the morphological diagnostics. Further studies are proposed, including more DNA sequences especially for P. macropilis.

Molecular discrimination of phytoseiids associated with the red palm mite Raoiella indica (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) from Mauritius and South Florida

“…The posterior probabilities tree was inferred from 1,000,000 generations is taken to represent the evolutionary history of the taxa analyzed. Branches corresponding to partitions with less than a posterior probability of 50 are collapsed and Hoy 2002;Okassa et al 2010;Tixier et al 2010). The 12S rRNA data is supported by the RAPD analysis which also indicates the Mauritius and south Florida populations are two distinct genetic groups.…”

Morphological, molecular and cross-breeding analysis of geographic populations of coconut-mite associated predatory mites identified as Neoseiulus baraki: evidence for cryptic species?

“…Hence, molecular and other tools may be helpful for taxonomic identification ). These techniques have allowed researchers to look beyond morphological similarities by searching for genetic and other differences to answer taxonomic questions (Navajas et al 1996(Navajas et al , 1998Hinomoto et al 2001Hinomoto et al , 2007Jeyaprakash and Hoy 2002;Noronha et al 2003;Ramadan et al 2004;Klimov et al 2004;Tixier et al 2006aTixier et al , 2010Ros and Breeuwer 2010;Okassa et al 2009Okassa et al , 2010Okassa et al , 2011Kanouh et al 2010). Here, we address the question whether predatory mites collected from different geographic localities and previously identified as Neoseiulus baraki Athias-Henriot represent more than one closely related species.…”

“…Hence, we carried out a multidisciplinary approach to clarify the taxonomic status of these populations by using three methods. First, we used a morphometric approach using multivariate analysis, a method applied successfully to solve taxonomic problems in mites (Boyce et al 1990;Tixier et al 2003Tixier et al , 2004Tixier et al , 2006bTixier et al , 2008aAkimov et al 2003;Klimov et al 2004;Navia et al 2009;Vidović et al 2010;Okassa et al 2010). Second, we sequenced part of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI), as widely used for phylogenetic studies of Phytoseiidae and Tetranychidae (Navajas et al 1996(Navajas et al , 1998Toda et al 2000;Hinomoto et al 2001Hinomoto et al , 2007Navajas and Boursot 2003;Ramadan et al 2004;Klimov et al 2004;Tixier et al 2006a, b;Yang et al 2010;Ros and Breeuwer 2010).…”

Obtaining molecular data for all life stages of Typhlodromus (Typhlodromus) exhilaratus (Mesostigmata: Phytoseiidae): consequences for species identification

“…Two mitochondrial DNA markers (12S rRNA and Cytb mtDNA) currently used in species diagnostic within the family Phytoseiidae (Jeyaprakash and Hoy 2002;Okassa et al 2009Okassa et al , 2010Okassa et al , 2011Kanouh et al 2010a, b;Tixier et al 2006aTixier et al , b, 2008Tixier et al , 2010Tixier et al , 2011aTixier et al , b, 2012 were applied. The primers used to amplify these fragments were as follows: 12S rRNA, 5 0 -3 0 TACTATGTTACGACTTAT and 3 0 -5 0 AAACTAGGATTAGATACCC (Jeyaprakash and Hoy 2002); Cytb mtDNA, 5 0 -3 0 TAWRAARTATCAYTCDGGTTKRATATG and 3 0 -5 0 CCWTGAGG ACAAATAWSWTTYTGAGG (W. Dermauw, pers.…”

“…Molecular studies are currently performed on single adult females (Jeyaprakash and Hoy 2002;Okassa et al 2009Okassa et al , 2010Okassa et al , 2011Kanouh et al 2010a, b;Tixier et al 2006aTixier et al , b, 2008Tixier et al , 2010Tixier et al , 2011aTixier et al , b, 2012, this stage being used because of its relatively ''large'' body (body length ranging for all Phytoseiidae mite species between 220 and 570 lm, with an average of 340 lm). In 2010, Jeyaprakash and Hoy reported, for the first time, DNA extraction and amplification from single eggs and males of the Phytoseiidae species: Galendromus (Galendromus) occidentalis (Nesbitt).…”