Genetic diversity of Tutaabsoluta (Meyrick, 1917) (Lepidoptera, Gelechiidae) populations in three districts of Tamil Nadu

Abstract

The present study was carried out to assess the prevalence of Tutaabsoluta in vegetable growing regions of Tamil Nadu during September 2016 to August, 2017. Among the twenty four location surveyed in three districts viz., Coimbatore, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri, T. absoluta infestation was found in all locations. Species identification was confirmed by collecting adults from the surveyed locations. Molecular identification of specimens from surveyed districts was performed using mitochondrial (mtDNA) markers. Characterisation of T. absoluta populations from Coimbatore, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri Districts using cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) revealed that the Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri population were closely related with NCBI accession sourced from IARI (KY619683), New Delhi, India, whereas, the Coimbatore population with Spain (GU353336) and Turkey (KTO02421) population.