Submission of mitochondrial sequences of one prospective biological control agent of french broom, the psyllid Arytinnis hakani

Authors: BON, MARIE-CLAUDE - European Biological Control Laboratory (EBCL); DESURMONT, GAYLORD - European Biological Control Laboratory (EBCL); KERDELLANT, ELVEN - European Biological Control Laboratory (EBCL); GUERMACHE, FATIHA - European Biological Control Laboratory (EBCL); SFORZA, RENE - European Biological Control Laboratory (EBCL)

Submitted to: Genbank
Publication Type: Database / Dataset
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/24/2021
Publication Date: 11/24/2021
Citation: Bon, M., Desurmont, G., Kerdellant, E., Guermache, F., Sforza, R. 2021. Submission of mitochondrial sequences of one prospective biological control agent of french broom, the psyllid Arytinnis hakani. Genbank. OL631144.

Interpretive Summary: Genista monspessulana (L.) L.A.S. Johnson commonly named French broom is a perennial shrub of the Fabacae family. Introduced from Europe in the mid-1800s, the weed has since invaded 40,000 hectares in California where it forms dense stands excluding native plants and wildlife. French broom is unpalatable to most livestock except goats, so it decreases rangeland value while increasing fire hazards. This aggressive weed is also invasive in Oregon, Chile, New Zealand, and Australia. Although classical biological control is likely to be the only long-term option for controlling French broom, to date, no agents have been intentionally released against it in the United States. One prospective biological control agent, the psyllid Arytinnis hakani Loginova (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), is under consideration for release in California against French broom. Typically, prior release, each collection of the agent from the native range passes through US quarantines for testing in priority potential impacts on nontarget plants. French broom psyllids have been collected at Bormes Les Mimosas in southern France and a colony was established in order to increase the number of individuals prior shipment to US quarantines and for open field tests in France. As part of a pre-release framework, the colony has to be correctly taxonomically identified. DNA analysis of few individuals of the colony confirmed that the colony is made of one single species, Arytinnis hakani, hence preventing the risk of unintentional introductions of an other species in quarantine testing and ultimately in the United States.

Technical Abstract: One prospective biological control agent, the psyllid Arytinnis hakani Loginova (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), is under consideration for release in California against an aggressive weed, Genista monspessulana (L.) L.A.S. Johnson, commonly named French broom. One colony of southern France origin, that matches the climatic conditions where the future biocontrol agent will be deployed in California, was established in France in order to increase the number of individuals needed to assess its potential impacts on nontarget plants in open field tests in France and in quarantine in the United States. In the event of a release of this colony in California, it is crucial to identify the colony at the species level to prevent unintentional introductions of undesired cryptic species but also at the intraspecies level to investigate the standing genetic diversity of this southern France provenance and hypothetical presence of genetically distinct biotypes. By sequencing the entire mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 gene in few individuals of the colony and blasting against public databases including Genbank, we confirmed that the colony maintained in southern France is made of one single species, Arytinnis hakani, and we did not evidence the presence of genetically distinct biotypes. Consensus sequence has been deposited in Genbank database under accession number OL631144. This information is part of the pre-release framework developed in case of different provenances of the agent will be amalgamed in the time course of the release process for example to enhance the genetic diversity of the agent.