Microsatellite markers from the 'South American fruit fly' Anastrepha fraterculus: a valuable tool for population genetic analysis and SIT applications

Abstract

BackgroundAnastrepha fraterculus Wiedemann is a horticultural pest which causes significant economic losses in the fruit-producing areas of the American continent and limits the access of products to international markets. The use of environmentally friendly control strategies against this pest is constrained due to the limited knowledge of its population structure.ResultsWe developed microsatellite markers for A. fraterculus from four genomic libraries, which were enriched in CA, CAA, GA and CAT microsatellite motifs. Fifty microsatellite regions were evaluated and 14 loci were selected for population genetics studies. Genotypes of 122 individuals sampled from four A. fraterculus populations were analyzed. The level of polymorphism ranged from three to 13 alleles per locus and the mean expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.60 to 0.64. Comparison between allelic and genotypic frequencies showed significant differences among all pairs of populations.ConclusionsThis novel set of microsatellite markers provides valuable information for the description of genetic variability and population structure of wild populations and laboratory strains of A. fraterculus. This information will be used to identify and characterize candidate strains suitable to implement effective pest control strategies and might represent a first step towards having a more comprehensive knowledge about the genetics of this pest.

Relevant genetic differentiation among Brazilian populations of Anastrepha fraterculus (Diptera, Tephritidae)

“…DNA was extracted from three legs of each single fly using the “DNeasy Blood & Tissue” kit (Qiagen, Valencia, CA) following the standard DNeasy protocol. DNA samples were screened using the following ten microsatellite loci: AfD4, AfD105, AfA7, AfA112, AfA115, AfA120, AfA122, AfA117, AfA10, and AfC103 (Lanzavecchia et al 2014). Allele scoring was performed using an automated ABI PRISM 310 Genetic Analyser (Applied Biosystem) following Aketarawong et al (2006).…”

“…Within the Tephritidae, microsatellites have been successfully developed and applied for several Bactrocera species (Shearman et al 2006; Aketarawong et al 2006, 2007, Augustinos et al, 2008, Virgilio et al 2010; Drew et al 2011), for Rhagoletis cerasi L. (Augustinos et al 2011), for a few Ceratitis species (Bonizzoni et al 2001, 2004, Meixner et al 2002, Baliraine et al 2003, 2004, Silva et al 2003, Delatte et al 2013, Virgilio et al 2013), for Anastrepha suspensa (Loew) (Fritz and Schable 2004, Boykin et al 2010), and for Anastrepha obliqua (Macquart) (Islam et al 2011). Microsatellites have only recently been isolated in Anastrepha fraterculus (Lanzavecchia et al 2014) and have proven useful for the analysis of population dynamics and differentiation across the distribution range of this polymorphic species.…”

Resolving cryptic species complexes of major tephritid pests

“…(ITS 1)Internal Transcriber Spacer 1 was found to be a good molecular marker to identify different groups (Sutton et al 2015). Microsatellites were developed (Lanzavecchia et al 2014) and proved to be successful to discriminate among morphotypes (Lima et al unpublished data, Manni et al 2015). The phylogenetic relationships of Andean-Ecuadorian populations were determined with other molecular markers (Ludeña et al 2011).…”

Dynamics of genetic variability in Anastrepha fraterculus(Diptera: Tephritidae) during adaptation to laboratory rearing conditions

“…Despite the limited information at genetic level available for this species, we have recently developed a set of species-specific microsatellite markers [ 34 ]. The development and availability of these markers are of major importance as very powerful tools for population genetics analyses [ 35 , 36 ].…”