ARS | Publication request: MORE TROUBLE FOR GRASSHOPPER MOLECULAR SYSTEMATICS: INTRAINDIVIDUAL VARIATION IN BOTH MITOCHONDRIAL AND NUCLEAR RIBOSOMAL DNA SEQUENCES

Submitted to: Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: November 17, 2002
Publication Date: November 17, 2002
Citation: SWORD, G.A., SENIOR, L. MORE TROUBLE FOR GRASSHOPPER MOLECULAR SYSTEMATICS: INTRAINDIVIDUAL VARIATION IN BOTH MITOCHONDRIAL AND NUCLEAR RIBOSOMAL DNA SEQUENCES. ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA ANNUAL MEETING. 2002. PAPER NO. D0489.

Technical Abstract: Numerous insect studies have utilized 12s and 16s ribosomal subunit mtDNA as well as nuclear ribosomal ITS sequences to resolve relationships in population-level phylogenetic analyses. Here we show that PCR amplification of both of these regions from whole genomic DNA of the snakeweed grasshopper, Hesperotettix viridis (Orthoptera: Acrididae) can result in mixed PCR products. This finding violates an important assumption underlying the use of PCR in systematic analyses; namely, that PCR products from a single reaction are homogeneous and represent a single gene segment. The intra-individual heterogeneity detected in this study can hinder the use of 12s and 16s mtDNA as well as the nuclear ITS regions as markers in phylogeographic analyses.