engleski

Gene flow and genetic structure among invasive western corn rootworm populations from Croatia

Western corn rootworm (WCR) Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) is an important pest of maize in Croatia and Europe. Factors that contribute to the spread of this pest are still not known. Currently there is little detailed knowledge of the population genetics of WCR in Croatia, or known reasons for their invasion success. In 2008, genetic capabilities within the D. v. virgifera research group at the Faculty of Agriculture were established to study the population genetics of WCR in Croatia. The objective of this study is to use already established microsatellite markers to describe the contemporary genetic structure of WCR populations from Croatia to gain an understanding of their spatial invasion. During 2009 from 13 locations in eastern and central Croatia samples of WCR (12-30 individuals) were collected. After DNA extraction, individuals were genotyped following the methods of Kim et al. (2008). Genetic variation within populations was quantified by determining the mean number of alleles per locus and mean expected heterozygosity (Nei 1987). Genepop (Raymond & Rousset 1995) was used to calculate pairwise FST estimates (Weir & Cockerham 1984) and exact tests for population differentiation for all pairs of populations. A Mantel test (correlation of FST (1/ FST -1) & Ln of geographic distance (km) among population pairs) was used to understand whether WCR gene flow patterns can be described by the isolation by distance model.

genetic structure; invasive pest; invasion success; maize; microsatellite markers; population genetics; western corn rootworm

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