Molecular approach in spider mites (Acari: Tetranychidae): Preliminary data on ribosomal DNA sequences

Abstract

DNA sequence data were used to examine phylogenetic relationships between six species of economically important Tetranychidae mites: Eotetranychus carpini (Oudemans), E. pruni (Reck), Tetranychus pacificus McGregor, T. mcdanieli McGregor, T. turkestani Ugarov & Nikolski and T. urticae Koch. With primers directed toward conserved elements flanking the target region, the Polymerase Chain Reaction was used to amplify the ITS2 spacer of the ribosomal DNA molecule. The nucleotide sequence of a 300-bp fragment of the ITS2 was determined by direct sequencing and nucleotide divergence used for intra-generic comparison in mites. The resulting phylogenetic tree expressing interspecific relationships in genus Tetranychus agrees with morphological data. The study demonstrates the usefulness of the approach in the assessment of the systematics and evolution of the group.

Molecular markers for the phylogenetics of mites and ticks

“…In what was perhaps the first ever use of molecular phylogenetics in mites, Navajas et al (1992) used primers in the 5.8S and 28S rDNA genes to amplify the ITS2 region in several species of tetranychid mites and showed that this region is suitable for examining phylogenetic relationships within genera, but that differences between genera were too great to enable correct alignment of the sequences. The relationships within the genus Tetranychus agreed closely with morphology but sequences from two sympatric species of Eotetranychus from different hosts, which appeared morphologically very similar except for a slight difference in the shape of the peritreme, showed substantial genetic divergence.…”

Caracterização morfológica e molecular de ácaros predadores do gênero Euseius (Acari, Phytoseiidae).

“…Trabalhos envolvendo a combinação de caracteres morfológicos, estudos biológicos e moleculares também vêm sendo realizados no estudo de ácaros da família Tetranychidae (Navajas et al, 1992(Navajas et al, , 1994(Navajas et al, e 1997.…”

“…A correta identificação dos agentes de controle biológico a serem introduzidos em uma nova área é fundamental, já que identificações imprecisas podem resultar em insucessos (Moraes, 1987 Croft, 1970;Hoying & Croft, 1977;McMurtry, 1980;Navajas et al, 1992Navajas et al, , 1994Navajas et al, e 1997.…”

“…Alguns trabalhos na área da caracterização molecular vêm sendo realizados com ácaros (Navajas et al, 1992(Navajas et al, , 1994(Navajas et al, e 1997.…”

“…(Ciociola Junior, 2000;Hoy, 1994;Navajas et al, 1992Navajas et al, , 1994Navajas et al, e 1997Torres et al, 1990). …”