title: Molecular discrimination of phytoseiids associated with the red palm mite Raoiella indica (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) from Mauritius and South Florida.
abstract: Phytoseiid populations imported from Mauritius for evaluation for a classical biological control program in Florida, USA, were morphologically identified as Amblyseius largoensis Muma, a species associated with the red palm mite in south Florida and the Caribbean. Bayesian analysis and sequence divergences of the mitochondrial 12S rRNA and nuclear Elongation factor--I alpha (EF-Iα) genes and Neighbor-Joining analysis of High-fidelity-RAPD-PCR markers were used to discriminate between the south Florida and Mauritius populations. High-fidelity-RAPD-PCR markers in addition to Bayesian and sequence divergence analyses of the 12S rRNA sequences suggest that the Mauritius and south Florida populations are genetically different but whether these are species or population differences is unknown. The degenerate EF-Iα primers used to survey the phytoseiids amplified two different elongation factor sequences with distinct amino acid translations, the putative EF-Iα and an unknown elongation factor. Variability within the 12S gene was used to develop population-specific primers for identifying the Mauritius phytoseiids in the event they are released in south Florida.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida, POB 110620, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA. hbowman@ufl.edu
authors.forename: Heidi M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Bowman
authors.forename: Marjorie A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Hoy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017931:DNA Primers; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000235:genetics; D005431:Florida; D008436:Mauritius; D008925:Mites / Q000235:genetics*; D020648:Peptide Elongation Factor 1 / Q000235:genetics; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D019105:Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Technique; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D020648:Peptide Elongation Factor 1; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal; C075526:RNA, ribosomal, 12S; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV