Ecology and Evolution (2014) 4, 3778-3787
Tatiana M. Ovalle, Soroush Parsa, Maria P. Hernández and Luis A. Becerra Lopez-Lavalle (2014)
Reliable molecular identification of nine tropical whitefly species
Ecology and Evolution 4 (19), 3778-3787
Abstract: The identification of whitefly species in adult stage is problematic. Morphological differentiation of pupae is one of the better methods for determining identity of species, but it may vary depending on the host plant on which they develop which can lead to misidentifications and erroneous naming of new species. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) fragment amplified from the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) gene is often used for mitochondrial haplotype identification that can be associated with specific species. Our objective was to compare morphometric traits against DNA barcode sequences to develop and implement a diagnostic molecular kit based on a RFLP-PCR method using the COI gene for the rapid identification of whiteflies. This study will allow for the rapid diagnosis of the diverse community of whiteflies attacking plants of economic interest in Colombia. It also provides access to the COI sequence that can be used to develop predator conservation techniques by establishing which predators have a trophic linkage with the focal whitefly pest species.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Full text of article
Database assignments for author(s): Luis-Augusto Becerra Lopez-Lavalle
Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
identification/taxonomy
surveys/sampling/distribution
