Case Study
Submitted By
| Name: | Gerardo Gallego |
| Institution: | International Center for Tropical Agriculture |
| Country: | Colombia |
| Email: | g.gallego@cgiar.org |
Title & Categories
| Case Study Title: | Use of DNA Barcode for identification of possible biotypes of the fruit borer Neoleucinodes elegantalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), an important pest of Andean solanaceous fruits. |
| Focus Theme: | Experimental application of barcodes to a new taxonomic group, Biotic inventory of a poorly known taxonomic group, Adding barcodes to a large survey of a taxonomic group, Agricultural pests |
| Geographic Region: | South America, Europe |
| Habitat Type: | Terrestrial cultivated land, Freshwater rivers, Freshwater - Other, Terrestrial montane, Terrestrial - Other |
| Taxonomic Group: | d: Arthropoda - Hexapoda - Lepidoptera, c: Bryophyta |
Scope
Colombia has a collection of N. elegantalis specimens obtained from different cultivated and wild host plants in 128 sites visited by Dra. Ana E. Diaz of CORPOICA-Colombia. Sampling in Venezuela will be implemented in lulo and tomatoes and in several wild host plants occurring in different areas of the country. This survey will be conducted by Dr. José Alejandro Clavijo Albertos of the Zoology Museum (Museo del Instituto de Zoología Agrícola, MIZA).
Purpose
1. To identify possible biotypes of N. elegantalis occurring in different solanaceous crops in Colombia and Venezuela. 2. To characterize all N. elegantalis specimens available in the collection made in Colombia by CORPOICA and those obtained in Venezuela by MIZA. 3. To identify genetic variability in populations of N. elegantalis affecting solanaceous fruits and to relate these possible differences with geographic occurrence and host plant records in cultivated and wild solanaceous plants in both Colombia and Venezuela.
Background
This insect presents diversity and specificity of natural enemies, variability in terms of ovipositional habits and variations in the behavior of larvae. These variations are related to the host plant that is being attacked. In studies conducted in Colombia, Venezuela y Brazil The insect has also shown variations in terms of response to the sexual pheromone (Kuratomi 2001, Salas et al. 1992, Mirás et al. 1997, Eirás 2000, Cabrera et al. 2001, Badji et al. 2003), These differential reactions to a number of host plants suggest the possible occurrence of a complex of species that may or may not be related phylogenetically, or the occurrence of biotypes specialized in attacking specific host plants. Recently, Diaz y Solis, 2007 (Proceedings Washington Entomological Society), described a new species of Neoleucinodes. This new species is very close to N. elegantalis and can be confused with it. The taxonomy of the genus Neoleucinodes is very complex. Molecular characterization of available specimens may help in clarifying different aspects of the taxonomy of the group.
Logistics
All samples from Colombia and Venezuela will be kept in 70% ethanol. Molecular analysis will be conducted at CIAT using the DNA barcode technique amplifying the 5' end of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 mitochondrial region (COI), which has been found to be effective to differentiate among species in Noctuoidea (Lafontaine y Fibiger 2006), Noctuidae (Sezonlin et al. 2006,), Saturniidae (Rachell y Rachell 2006) and Pyralidae (Assefa et al. 2005, Yanli et al. 2005). Amplified products will be sequenced and the results will be analyzed by the bioinformatics group of CIAT with the possible assistance of the Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD)-www.barcodinglife.org/views/login.php.