Low genetic diversity among pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum) biotypes of different plant affiliation.
Genetic diversity in the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum was investigated by a restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of three maternally inherited genomes (mitochondrial DNA and plasmids of the symbiotic bacteria Buchnera). Twenty-nine parthenogenetic clones of three A. pisum biotypes, defined by their capacity to use the legume crops pea, alfalfa and red clover, respectively, were analysed, and a total of 67 restriction sites was scored. No restriction site variation in the mitochondrial genome was obtained, but length variation at two regions (the A + T-rich region and ND3-ND5 region) was noted. One aphid clone bore a variant HindIII restriction site in the Buchnera leucine plasmid (pAPEleu), and two clones were heteroplasmic for a 0.76-kb deletion in the Buchnera tryptophan plasmid (pAPEtrp). Based on arthropod nucleotide substitution rates, it is proposed that the crop-feeding biotypes of A. pisum may have diversified within the last 100 000 years and possibly much more recently, since the advent of agriculture.
Birkle
L M
LM
Department of Biology, University of York, PO Box 373, York YO10 5YW, UK. lmb3@york.ac.uk
Douglas
A E
AE
D000818:Animals; D001042:Aphids / Q000235:genetics*; D004247:DNA; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D007887:Fabaceae / Q000469:parasitology; D014644:Genetic Variation; D010946:Plants, Medicinal
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D004247:DNA