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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #325374
Research Project: Systematics of Flies of Importance in Agroecosystems and the Environment

Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory

Title: Diagnostic characters within ITS2 DNA support molecular identification of Anastrepha suspensa

Author
item BARR, NORMAN - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
item RUIZ-ARCE, RAUL - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
item OBREGON, OSCAR - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
item Shatters, Robert - Bob
item Norrbom, Allen
item NOLAZCO, ALVARADO - Instituto Nacional De Innovacion Agraria (INIA)
item Thomas, Donald

Submitted to: Florida Entomologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/15/2017
Publication Date: 4/7/2017
Citation: Barr, N., Ruiz-Arce, R., Obregon, O., Shatters, R.G., Norrbom, A.L., Nolazco, A., Thomas, D.B. 2017. Diagnostic characters within ITS2 DNA support molecular identification of Anastrepha suspensa. Florida Entomologist. 100:182-185.

Interpretive Summary: Fruit flies include some of the most important pests of fruits and vegetables worldwide. The majority of the pest species are exotic and are threats to American agriculture, but the Caribbean fruit fly, a pest of grapefruit, loquat, Surinam cherry, tropical almond, guava, and other commercial fruits, has become established in Florida. To prevent the introduction of new pest fruit flies into the U.S., more rapid and reliable tools to identify all life stages of all fruit flies are needed, particularly for the larvae which are nearly indistinguishable morphologically. This paper reports new information about a region of DNA that can be used to distinguish all life stages of Caribfly from the most closely related pest species. This information will be used by APHIS-PPQ and other regulatory agencies to identify samples from detection programs so that if exotic pest species are introduced they can be promptly detected and eradicated.

Technical Abstract: An approximately 220 bp fragment of the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) is screened as a diagnostic of Anastrepha suspensa and other pest fruit flies in the genus Anastrepha. The majority (96%) of the sites in this fragment are invariant among the test species but A. suspensa can be separated from other species using two diagnostic characters. Similarly, A. ludens and A. obliqua can be distinguished from other species based on one fixed character each. There is evidence of intra-specific ITS2 variation in five species tested, consistent with species complexes and incomplete homogenization through process of concerted evolution.