Author
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Roehrdanz, Richard |
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Submitted to: Genbank
Publication Type: Other Publication Acceptance Date: 12/2/2006 Publication Date: 3/7/2007 Citation: Roehrdanz, R.L. 2007. Mitochondrial DNA variation of North American populations of Aphthona czwalinae (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), a flea beetle imported for biocontrol of leafy spurge. Genbank. Accession numbers: EF090277-EF090281. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Several flea beetle species from the genus Aphthona (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) have been introduced into North America as biological control agents for the rangeland weed, leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.). A black beetle,Aphthona czwalinae, was one of the first species to be released in the late 1980s. Portions of the mitochondrial genome were used order to measure the genetic diversity of the established North American populations. However, compared to other species, this species has become very rare at established flea beetle locations and had not been observed for a number of years in North Dakota, Minnesota, and Alberta. A small population of A. czwalinae was discovered in North Dakota in the summer of 2006. PCR-RFLP of a large segment of mtDNA (~8000 base pairs) and nucleotide sequencing of a smaller segment of the mitochondrial cox1-cox2 region (1505 base pairs, GenBank Accession numbers EF090277-EF090281) were both examined and compared to similar data from the other released Aphthona species. A czwalinae appears to be most closely related to A. nigriscutis. A modest amount of genetic variation exists in the extant population. GenBank Accessions: Aphthona czwalinae - mitochondrial cox1-tRNALeu-cox2 (1505 bp) EF090277 CZ3722, haplotype Z3, North Dakota EF090278 CZ3731, haplotype Z2, North Dakota EF090279 CZ3762, haplotype Z4, North Dakota EF090280 CZ3763, haplotype Z5, North Dakota EF090281 M1-Z1, haplotype Z1, Montana |
