Phylogeographical Structure in Mitochondrial DNA of Legume Pod Borer (Maruca vitrata) Population in Tropical Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

This study was undertaken to assess the genetic diversity and host plant races of M. vitrata population in South and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) gene was used to understand the phylogenetic relationship of geographically different M. vitrata population, but previous studies did not include population from Southeast Asia, the probable center of origin for Maruca, and from east Africa. Extensive sampling was done from different host plant species in target countries. Reference populations from Oceania and Latin America were used. An amplicon of 658 bp was produced by polymerase chain reaction, and 64 haplotypes were identified in 686 M. vitrata individuals. Phylogenetic analysis showed no difference among the M. vitrata population from different host plants. However, the results suggested that M. vitrata has formed two putative subspecies (which cannot be differentiated based on morphological characters) in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, as indicated by the high pairwise FST values (0.44–0.85). The extremely high FST values (≥0.93) of Maruca population in Latin America and Oceania compared to Asian and African population seem to indicate a different species. On the continental or larger geographical region basis, the genetic differentiation is significantly correlated with the geographical distance. In addition, two putative species of Maruca, including M. vitrata occur in Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The negative Tajima’s D and Fu’s FS values showed the recent demographic expansion of Maruca population. The haplotype network and Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery analyses confirmed the results of phylogenetic analysis. Thus, this study confirmed the presence of three putative Maruca species, including one in Latin America, one in Oceania (including Indonesia) and M. vitrata in Asia, Africa and Oceania. Hence, the genetic differences in Maruca population should be carefully considered while designing the pest management strategies in different regions.

Pheromone‐binding proteins based phylogenetics and phylogeography of Maruca spp. from Asia, Africa, Oceania, and South America

“…Herbison-Evans, Hacobian, and Crossley (2017) also reported two forms of M. vitrata in Australia. This study confirmed the presence of three putative Maruca species, including one in Latin America, one in Oceania (including Indonesia) and M. vitrata in Asia, Africa and Oceania (Malini, Schafleitner, Muthukalingan, & Ramasamy, 2015). This study confirmed the presence of three putative Maruca species, including one in Latin America, one in Oceania (including Indonesia) and M. vitrata in Asia, Africa and Oceania (Malini, Schafleitner, Muthukalingan, & Ramasamy, 2015).…”

“…However, the Oceania Maruca populations formed two groupsone exclusively in Oceania (including Kalimantan, Indonesia) and the other aligned with Asian and African M. vitrata populations in our earlier study(Malini et al, 2015), but not in the current study despite the fact that we collected Maruca populations extensively The negative Tajima's D values for Asia, Africa, and Oceania Maruca populations for all the PBP genes, and only for MvitPBP3 for South America indicated the recent expansion of Maruca populations, and they provide evidence for purifying selection at this locus.…”

“…Since 1 IMP1, OMK1, OMK4, OMK5, OMR1, PM1, VM3, IMG1, IMS5, IMS9, IMS10, XM6, OMC6, IM1L, IM1U, IM2U, IMU9, VNK8, VNK10, CN12, GN5, HL4, HL7, ML4, VLH2, VLN4, VLV2, VC9, MT3, VT1, WT7, BV1, GV1, GV3, MVM5, OV14−2, OVB2, VV5−5, VVB6L, AW5, CW5, GW10, MW4, SW5, VW13, ZW2, CD5, YDR6, YDS9, CG7, SW1, AB2, UB1, OK8, PKM7, XG10, TG1, TG2, TGK4, TGK5, TGT2, UG3, UG6, UGW9, VG5, VG8 (Malini et al, 2015). (Fu, 1995(Fu, , 1997.…”

“…Besides from Taiwan, M. vitrata larval populations from nine countries (Bangladesh, Benin, Indonesia, India, Kenya, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam) from different host plants were collected (Malini et al, 2015). The larvae were reared on Spodoptera exigua meridic diet (Bio-Serv, Frenchtown, NJ, USA) modified with cowpea powder, at 27 ± 1°C and 70 ± 10% relative humidity, photoperiod 14:10 hr (Light:Dark) until pupation.…”

“…The Asian and African Maruca samples for PBP studies were mostly chosen based on the coxI haplotypes inMalini et al (2015). subsp.…”