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Web mite Schizotetranychus krungthepensis on sugarcane in India: molecular evidence for occurrence and the way forward


Affiliations
1 Section of Entomology, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore 641 007, India, India
2 Section of Biotechnology, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore 641 007, India, India
3 Section of Physiology, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore 641 007, India, India
 

Following the detection of an incongruity in the nomenclature of sugarcane web mite Schizotetranychus andropogoni (Hirst) (Acari: Tetranychidae), we collected web mite samples from commercial hybrids of sugarcane and Saccharum spontaneum in parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala States, India. Acarologists identified these samples as Schizotetranychus krungthepensis Naing & Auger (Acari: Tetranychidae), originally described from Thailand in 2014. To provide molecular evidence to distinguish S. krungthepensis from S. andropogoni, we subjected sequences of 5.8S rRNA and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (mtCOI) genes of both species available in NCBI database to Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis (MEGA6). The analysis produced phylogenetic trees with distinct clusters for S. andropogoni and S. krungthepensis, albeit with some exceptions, thus providing evidence to consider S. krungthepensis a species distinctly different from S. andropogoni. In view of the possible threat of S. krungthepensis to sugarcane cultivation in the country, we outline the basic course of action needed to manage the pest if it were to assume more serious proportions than the native species it appears to be displacing
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  • Web mite Schizotetranychus krungthepensis on sugarcane in India: molecular evidence for occurrence and the way forward

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Authors

J. Srikanth
Section of Entomology, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore 641 007, India, India
P. Mahesh
Section of Entomology, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore 641 007, India, India
R. Manimekalai
Section of Biotechnology, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore 641 007, India, India
G. S. Suresha
Section of Physiology, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore 641 007, India, India
B. Singaravelu
Section of Entomology, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore 641 007, India, India
K. P. Salin
Section of Entomology, ICAR-Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore 641 007, India, India

Abstract


Following the detection of an incongruity in the nomenclature of sugarcane web mite Schizotetranychus andropogoni (Hirst) (Acari: Tetranychidae), we collected web mite samples from commercial hybrids of sugarcane and Saccharum spontaneum in parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala States, India. Acarologists identified these samples as Schizotetranychus krungthepensis Naing & Auger (Acari: Tetranychidae), originally described from Thailand in 2014. To provide molecular evidence to distinguish S. krungthepensis from S. andropogoni, we subjected sequences of 5.8S rRNA and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (mtCOI) genes of both species available in NCBI database to Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis (MEGA6). The analysis produced phylogenetic trees with distinct clusters for S. andropogoni and S. krungthepensis, albeit with some exceptions, thus providing evidence to consider S. krungthepensis a species distinctly different from S. andropogoni. In view of the possible threat of S. krungthepensis to sugarcane cultivation in the country, we outline the basic course of action needed to manage the pest if it were to assume more serious proportions than the native species it appears to be displacing

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv123%2Fi8%2F1038-1049