ARS | Publication request: MOLECULAR PHYLOGENY AND SPECIES DIVERSITY OF APHTHONA FLEA BEETLES INTRODUCED TO NORTH AMERICA

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: May 2, 2006
Publication Date: May 24, 2006
Citation: Roehrdanz, R.L., Sears, S., Bourchier, R.S., Olson, D., Cortilet, A.B., Fauske, G.M. 2006. Molecular phylogeny and species diversity of Aphthona flea beetles introduced to North America [abstract]. Annual Meeting for the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. Presentation No. P132-A.

Technical Abstract: Flea beetles of the genus Aphthona (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) have been imported from Europe and released in the USA and Canada as a biological control agent for the weed, leafy spurge. Long PCR-RFLP (8000+ bp) and nucleotide sequencing (617 bp) of mtDNA were employed to examine both the phylogeny and the intraspecific variation of the North American introductions. A narrow genetic base was observed in some species. A Wolbachia-infected mtDNA lineage has been identified in one species, A. nigriscutis, and evidence suggestive of cryptic species has been found for another, A. lacertosa.