CBN-V Video Archives - S8-04
Molecular Identification of Cassava Mealybugs
(Phenacoccus sp. Homoptera:Pseudococcidae)

Cuervo M., P. Calatayud, D.F. Múnera, A. Belloti and L.A. Calvert

International Center for Tropical Agriculture, CIAT, Apartado Aéreo 6713, Cali, Colombia u.virologia@cgiar.org

        Several species of mealybugs are important cassava pest in Latin America and Africa. Pseudococcidae herreni and P. manihoti are morphologically similar but P. herreni reproduces sexually while P. manihoti reproduces parthenogenetically. The similar morphology has made the determination of these species difficult. Populations of P. maderensis, P. herreni and P. manihoti were tested using the Operon primers H9 and H16 in randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. These species were easy to identify using these molecular markers. To further study the phylogenetic relationships of these mealybugs, a region of the 16S ribosomal DNA were cloned and sequenced. Parsimony and distance analyses were performed and the phylogenetic relatedness of these species was determined. The molecular data supported the placement of P. herreni and P. manihoti as distinct species and confirmed that the African and Latin American populations of P. manihoti are closely related.

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