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Genetic variation of the greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), among populations from Serbia and neighbouring countries, as inferred from COI sequence variability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2014

M. Prijović
Affiliation:
Institute of Pesticides and Environmental Protection, Banatska 31b, 11080 Belgrade, Serbia
M. Škaljac
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Sciences, Institute for Adriatic Crops, Put Duilova 11, 21000 Split, Croatia
T. Drobnjaković
Affiliation:
Institute of Pesticides and Environmental Protection, Banatska 31b, 11080 Belgrade, Serbia
K. Žanić
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Sciences, Institute for Adriatic Crops, Put Duilova 11, 21000 Split, Croatia
P. Perić
Affiliation:
Institute of Pesticides and Environmental Protection, Banatska 31b, 11080 Belgrade, Serbia
D. Marčić
Affiliation:
Institute of Pesticides and Environmental Protection, Banatska 31b, 11080 Belgrade, Serbia
J. Puizina*
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Split, Teslina 12, 21000 Split, Croatia
*
* Author for correspondence Phone: 00385 21 385 133 Fax: 00385 21 384 086 E-mail: puizina@pmfst.hr
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Abstract

The greenhouse whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum Westwood, 1856 (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) is an invasive and highly polyphagous phloem-feeding pest of vegetables and ornamentals. Trialeurodes vaporariorum causes serious damage due to direct feeding and transmits several important plant viruses. Excessive use of insecticides has resulted in significantly reduced levels of susceptibility of various T. vaporariorum populations. To determine the genetic variability within and among populations of T. vaporariorum from Serbia and to explore their genetic relatedness with other T. vaporariorum populations, we analysed the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) sequences of 16 populations from Serbia and six neighbouring countries: Montenegro (three populations), Macedonia (one population) and Croatia (two populations), for a total of 198 analysed specimens. A low overall level of sequence divergence and only five variable nucleotides and six haplotypes were found. The most frequent haplotype, H1, was identified in all Serbian populations and in all specimens from distant localities in Croatia and Macedonia. The COI sequence data that was retrieved from GenBank and the data from our study indicated that H1 is the most globally widespread T. vaporariorum haplotype. A lack of spatial genetic structure among the studied T. vaporariorum populations, as well as two demographic tests that we performed (Tajima's D value and Fu's Fs statistics), indicate a recent colonisation event and population growth. Phylogenetic analyses of the COI haplotypes in this study and other T. vaporariorum haplotypes that were retrieved from GenBank were performed using Bayesian inference and median-joining (MJ) network analysis. Two major haplogroups with only a single unique nucleotide difference were found: haplogroup 1 (containing the five Serbian haplotypes and those previously identified in India, China, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Morocco, Reunion and the USA) and haplogroup 3 (containing the single Serbian haplotype H3 and haplotypes from Costa Rica, the USA and Spanish Canary Islands). Collectively, our data indicate a rather limited value of COI as a genetic marker for discrimination between different T. vaporariorum populations in the investigated area. Possible explanations for the observed lack of COI sequence variability, such as specific genetics of biological invasion and/or the influence of bacterial symbionts that manipulate insect reproduction, are discussed.

Information

Type
Research Paper
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 
Figure 0

Fig. 1. Locations of the collected whitefly populations in Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and coastal Croatia according to the population numbers in table 1. Circles illustrate the appearance of haplotypes H1–H6.

Figure 1

Table 1. Populations of Trialeurodes vaporariorum that were collected in this study and their host plants.

Figure 2

Table 2. Sites (populations) sampled and the number of Trialeurodes vaporariorum individuals that were analysed. The six COI haplotypes (H1–H6) and their corresponding GenBank accession numbers.

Figure 3

Table 3. Variations in the COI sequences of specimens of Trialeurodes vaporariorum from Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Croatia (this study) and sequences retrieved from GenBank (shown in table 4).

Figure 4

Table 4. Classification of the global populations of Trialeurodes vaporariorum into 19 COI groups. The countries, GenBank accession numbers and references for T. vaporariorum sequences that were acquired from NCBI-GenBank for phylogenetic analysis are given.

Figure 5

Fig. 2. Median-joining network for the COI haplotypes. Each circle represents a haplotype, and the circle size is proportional to the haplotype frequency. Colours indicate the geographic origin of the haplotypes. Branch lengths are approximately equal to the inferred mutational steps. The haplogroup codes are according to those in table 4.

Figure 6

Fig. 3. (A) Global distribution of haplotypes H1 and H3. (B) Phylogenetic tree of T. vaporariorum based on COI and constructed using Bayesian inference. The haplotypes identified in Serbia are framed. Numbers on nodes are posterior probabilities. Scale indicates an expected number of substitutions per site.

Supplementary material: File

Prijović Supplementary Material

Table 1

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