Molecular and morphological characterization of the predatory mite Amblyseius largoensis (Acari: Phytoseiidae): surprising similarity between an Asian and American populations

Abstract

The accurate characterization of biological control agents is a key step in control programs. Recently, Amblyseius largoensis from Thailand were introduced in Brazil to evaluate their efficiency for the control of the red palm mite, Raoiella indica. The aim of this study was to confirm their identification and to characterize the population from Thailand, comparing it to populations of the Americas and Indian Ocean islands. In addition, a population of A. largoensis from New Caledonia, Oceania, of which DNA sequences were available, was included in phylogenetic analyses. Morphometric data obtained for the population of A. largoensis from Thailand were compared to those of populations from Reunion Island and the Americas through univariate and multivariate analyses. Two DNA fragments were amplified and sequenced: the nuclear ribosomal region ITSS and the mitochondrial 12S rRNA. Haplotypes (12S rRNA) and genotypes (ITSS) were identified and phylogenetic analyses using both fragments were conducted separately and combined using maximum likelihood and the Bayesian information criterion. The integrative approach reveals morphometric and molecular variabilities among populations of A. largoensis and shows that the population identified as A. largoensis collected in Thailand, as well as that from New Caledonia, are conspecific to the populations of the Americas and Indian Ocean islands. Populations from the Americas and Asia are more related to each other than with that from the Indian Ocean islands. Hypotheses to explain this clustering are proposed. Data on the molecular intraspecific variability of this predatory mite from remote areas will be helpful for the development of molecular diagnosis.

Phylogenetic relationship of superior durian (Durio zibethinus) cultivars native to South Kalimantan, Indonesia

“…Slobodian & Pastana (2020) defined a monophyletic group as a set of taxa descended from a single taxon or common ancestor. A taxon set is described by sharing apomorphic ("derived") conditions, and members within the set are considered more closely related to each other than to any taxon classified outside of this group (Slobodian & Pastana 2020), for example, vascular plants (Kadereit et al 2016), the Psammolestes genus (Oliveira et al 2018) and dinoflagellates (Orr et al 2012).…”

“…Wu et al (2021) also reported that these markers have poor consistency, low reproducibility and a relatively complex operation. In this case, molecular characterization is not a substitute, but is complementary for morphological evaluation (Lima et al 2018).…”

Genetic diversity of the predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii Athias-Henriot (Acari: Phytoseiidae) with an overview of its distribution and implications for biological control

“…The genetic distances among the specimens herein considered, even if quite high, especially considering the Cape Verde specimens, clearly correspond to intraspecific variations. The highest intraspecific distances found in literature for 12SrRNA, Cytb mtDNA and COI mtDNA are 7.8% (for Amblyseius largoensis (Muma) in Barbosa-Lima et al (2018), 23% (for Phytoseius finitimus Ribaga in Tixier et al (2017)) and 10.5% (for Neoseiulus californicus (McGregor) in Okassa et al (2011)), respectively. We can thus conclude that all the specimens here studied belong to the species Amblyseius swirskii.…”

Divergent domains of 28S ribosomal RNA gene: DNA barcodes for molecular classification and identification of mites

“…For a long time, the classification of mites has mainly been dependent on morphological characteristics and/or parasitic hosts. However, this field has been facing challenges due to the large number of species, the microscopic size of the organisms, diverse phenotypes of the same species, similar morphology of different species, and a shortage of specialized taxonomists [1][2][3]. Medically important mites can serve as pathogens, allergens, or microorganism reservoirs and are significant for human and animal health.…”