Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Southern Insect Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #205043

Title: Characterization of Eight Polymorphic Microsatellite Markers from the Tarnished Plant Bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois)

Author
item Perera, Omaththage
item Snodgrass, Gordon
item Scheffler, Brian
item Gore, Jeffrey
item Abel, Craig

Submitted to: Molecular Ecology Notes
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/7/2007
Publication Date: 3/26/2007
Citation: Perera O. P., Snodgras G.L., Scheffler B.E., Gore J., and Abel C. A. 2007. characterization of eight ploymorphic microsatelliet markers in the tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (Palisot de Beauvois). Mol. Ecol. Notes. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-8286.2007.01747.x

Interpretive Summary: The tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris is found in all agricultural regions of the United States and Canada. It has been reported to feed on 328 different plant species and is an economically important pest of many crops including cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L. Yield losses were estimated at 1.82, 1.66, and 1.14% of the cotton crop in Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana, respectively, in 2005. Tarnished plant bugs are controlled in cotton exclusively with insecticides and in the mid-South have developed varying levels of resistance to several classes of insecticides. In order to study population genetic characteristics and to identify genes responsible for insecticide resistance, a comprehensive set of genetic markers is needed for this species. In this study, a magnetic bead based enrichment method was used to isolate and characterize DNA based markers suitable for population studies as well as genetic mapping of genes responsible for insecticide resistance. In the present study, we report isolation and characterization of eight genetic markers in the tarnished plant bug. Seven of these markers are also suitable for genetic studies of western plant bug, Lygus hesperus. Keywords: Lygus, tarnished plant bug, SSR, simple sequence repeat, microsatellite, genetic markers

Technical Abstract: Tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris, is an important pest of crops in the United States. There is a paucity of population genetic studies as well as genetic markers suitable for said studies of this species. Three partial genomic libraries of Lygus lineolaris enriched for simple sequence repeats (SSR or microsatellites) were screened to identify polymorphic marker loci. Thirty three primer pairs were developed based on sequence information from 192 clones. Eight primer pairs that amplified polymorphic loci suitable for population genetic studies were selected after screening filed populations. The observed number of alleles ranged from 4 to 21with an average value of 12.25 (S.E. 1.94) while the effective number of alleles ranged from 1.23 to 11.05 with an average of 4.49 (S.E. ±1.15). All eight loci did not show any significant deviations of observed heterozygosity from Hardy-Weinberg expectations. Seven of the eight L. lineolaris microsatellite loci were transferable to western plant bug, Lygus hesperus.