Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Insect Behavior and Biocontrol Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #277651
Title: Assessing the usefulness of DNA barcoding to identify Oxycarenus hyalinipennis in Florida,a potentially invasive pest of cotton.

Author
item Nagoshi, Rodney
item PARAISO, OULIMATHE - Florida A & M University
item BRAMBILA, JULIETA - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
item KAIRO, MOSES - Florida A & M University

Submitted to: Florida Entomologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/20/2012
Publication Date: 12/1/2012
Citation: Nagoshi, R.N., Paraiso, O., Brambila, J., Kairo, M.T. 2012. Assessing the usefulness of DNA barcoding to identify Oxycarenus hyalinipennis in Florida,a potentially invasive pest of cotton.. Florida Entomologist. 95(4):1174-1181.

Interpretive Summary: The cotton seed bug is a major pest of cotton outside the United States. Breeding populations were reported in Brazil beginning in 1917 and there has been a continuing northward expansion into Hispaniola, the Bahamas,Turks and Caicos, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the southern tip of Florida at Stock Island and Key West. The chemical treatments required for control likely to have adverse effects on the environment. Accurate and timely identification is critical to effective monitoring, with the challenge being to identify the cotton seed bug. Scientists at the USDA-Agriculture Research Service, Center for Medical Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, Gainesville, Florida, are investigating a promising but as yet underused approach to screening for invasive species,DNA barcoding.This study represents the first step toward assessing the feasibility of using DNA barcoding to identify the cotton seed bug from field specimens. We examined specimens obtained from Israel, Brazil, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and Florida. Our results demonstrated the potential usefulness. We believe the results justify a more extensive cataloguing of DNA barcodes from different related species to enhance the resolution of the barcoding method.

Technical Abstract: Foreign pest insects present an ongoing challenge to the safety of U.S. agriculture. One such invasive threat to the U.S. cotton industry is Oxycarenus hyalinipennis (Costa) or the cotton seed bug. Populations are found throughout most of the world except for North America, and the southeastern U.S. is believed to provide a favorable environment for its establishment. A major component in efforts to control the spread of invasive pests is the rapid and accurate identification of intercepted specimens. Unfortunately, O. hyalinipennis belongs to a taxon that is not characterized extensively and where assignment of species identity by simple morphological keys often is problematic. An alternative strategy takes advantage of advances in molecular technology that allow the rapid analysis of DNA sequence data from even small amounts of tissue. “DNA barcoding” uses DNA sequence comparisons of conserved mitochondrial gene segments to estimate phylogenetic relationships between organisms. While controversial, the method has shown promise for assigning species identity to unknown specimens. In this study, we assessed the potential of DNA barcoding to identify the cotton seed bug in field collected specimens and demonstrated that despite some limitations, this molecular method would significantly facilitate current efforts to monitor for this important pest.technology that allow the rapid analysis of DNA sequence data from even small amounts of tissue. “DNA barcoding” uses DNA sequence comparisons of conserved mitochondrial gene segments to estimate phylogenetic relationships between organisms. While controversial, the method has shown promise for assigning species identity to unknown specimens. In this study,we assessed the potential of DNA barcoding to identify the cotton seed bug in field collected specimens and demonstrated that despite some limitations, this molecular method would significantly facilitate current efforts to monitor for this important pest.