Population Genetics Reveals That the Western Tianshan Mountains Populations of Agrilus mali (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) May Have Not been Recently Introduced

Abstract

Agrilus mali Matsumura is a wood-boring beetle that aggressively attacks species of the genus Malus, that has recently caused serious damage to the wild apple tree M. sieversii (Lebed.) in the western Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang. It was first detected there in the early 1990s and spread rapidly, being thus considered a regional invasive pest. To explore the possible outbreak mechanism of the local population and characterize the genetic differentiation of A. mali across different regions of China, we used three mitochondrial genes (COI, COII, and CytB) to investigate the genetic diversity and genetic structure of 17 A. mali populations containing 205 individuals collected from five Chinese provinces. Among them, nine populations were from the western Tianshan Mountains. Ultimately, of the 136 pairwise Fst comparisons, 99 showed high genetic differentiation among overall populations, and Tianshan populations exhibited significant differentiation with most of the non-Tianshan populations. Furthermore, A. mali populations represented relatively abundant haplotypes (54 haplotypes). Nine populations from the Tianshan Mountains showed 32 haplotypes (26 of which were unique), displaying relatively high genetic diversity. Additionally, the Mantel test revealed population genetic differentiation among either overall populations or the Tianshan Mountains populations, likely caused by geographical isolation. Phylogenic relationships showed that all populations clustered into three clades, and Tianshan Mountains populations, including CY, occupied one of the three clades. These results suggest that A. mali in the western Tianshan region has possibly been present in the area for a long period, and may not have been introduced recently. Highly frequent gene flows within Tianshan populations are possibly caused by human activities and may enhance the adaptability of A. mali along the western Tianshan Mountains, leading to periodic outbreaks. These findings enhance our understanding of jewel beetle population genetics and provide valuable information for pest management.

Comparative genome and phylogenetic analysis revealed the complex mitochondrial genome and phylogenetic position of Conopomorpha sinensis Bradley

“…A total of 37 genes were translated from the mitogenome of C. sinensis , and the content of A + T was significantly higher than that of C + G in the PCGs, RNA, control region and the whole mitogenome. These characteristics are consistent with the basic characteristics of insect mitochondrial genome 9 , 33 .…”

Rapid assay using recombinase polymerase amplification and lateral flow dipstick for identifying Agrilus mali, a serious wood-boring beetle of the western Tianshan Mountains in China

“…A. mali is a major insect that aggressively attacks species of the genus Malus and has recently caused serious damage to the wild apple tree M. sieversii in the western Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang, China (Sun et al 2022). Rapid distinguishment of the pest is the rst step in implementing appropriate control measures.…”

“…Agrilus mali (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) is a serious wood-boring beetle and is thought to have originated in Northeast Asia, including Eastern Siberia and the Far East of Russia, Mongolia and North Korea (Sun et al 2022). In the past few decades, A. mali has been found in wild fruit forests in the Tianshan Mountains in western China and caused the widespread death of the wild apple Malus sieversii, which is regarded as a key germplasm resource and primitive ancestor of cultivated apple (Cui et al 2015; Kong et al 2018; Zhang et al 2020).…”

“…In the past few decades, A. mali has been found in wild fruit forests in the Tianshan Mountains in western China and caused the widespread death of the wild apple Malus sieversii, which is regarded as a key germplasm resource and primitive ancestor of cultivated apple (Cui et al 2015; Kong et al 2018; Zhang et al 2020). Some studies believe that the introduction of apple seedlings from Shandong Province to Xinjiang led to the invasion of A. mali (Ji et al 2004;Bozorov et al 2019;Zhang et al 2021); however, a new study has also shown that people ignore the early stages of infestation, which may not have been understood until recently (Sun et al 2022). This result indicated that there are still some de ciencies in the early monitoring of A. mali.…”

Rapid assay using recombinase polymerase amplification and lateral flow dipstick for identifying Agrilus mali (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), a serious wood-boring beetle of the western Tianshan Mountains in China

“…Agrilus mali (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) is a grave wood-boring beetle believed to have originated in Northeast Asia, encompassing Eastern Siberia, the Far East of Russia, Mongolia, and North Korea (Sun et al 2022). Over the past few decades, A. mali has been discovered within the wild fruit forests of the Tianshan Mountains in western China, leading to extensive mortality among the wild apple species Malus sieversii (Cui et al 2015, Zhang et al 2020).…”