title: Population structure and spatial influence of agricultural variables on Hessian fly populations in the southeastern United States.
abstract: Population structure dictates the evolution of each population, and thus, the species as a whole. Incorporating spatial variables with population genetic statistics allows for greater discovery beyond traditional population genetics alone and can inform management decisions. The understanding  of population structure in Hessian fly, Mayetiola destructor (Say), a pest of wheat, has been limited in the past. We scored 14 microsatellite loci from 12 collections of Hessian fly in the southeastern United States. Through Bayesian clustering analysis, we found two major populations of  Hessian fly covering the entire southeastern United States. We evaluated correlations between agriculturally significant spatial variables and population genetic differentiation to test if genetic structure has an ecological component in a wheat agro-ecosystem. Our results suggest the total  amount of alternative host plants in the county may be driving some genetic differentiation. Although planting date may also be influential, geographic distance, mean annual temperature, and harvested wheat for grain do not seem to be contributing factors. The ecological or spatial component  to population structure, however, may be minimal compared to factors such as genetic drift.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2089, USA.
authors.forename: Philip K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Morton
authors.forename: Carolyn J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Foley
authors.forename: Brandon J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Schemerhorn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001499:Bayes Theorem; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004175:Diptera / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008297:Male; D008390:Markov Chains; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D015144:Southeastern United States; D014908:Triticum / Q000469:parasitology*