Abstract
In 2012, the orchid mealy bug Pseudococcus microcirculuswas first detected in situ in North America’s more diverse orchid region, the Big Cypress Basin (Collier Co FL). A follow-up survey showed that the mealy bug is more widespread and found on epiphytic orchids in two locations, in both the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve (sites B and F) and the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge (sites M and C). There, we collected mealy bugs (n=54) from 35 orchid individuals and screened allelic variation at seven microsatellite loci. We estimated genetic diversity and differentiation among all sites and compared the variation among individuals collected on the same plant. Genetic differentiation between sites M and C (F ST=0.03, P<0.01) and, M and B (F ST=0.04, P<0.01) was detected. We also detected significantly lower mean pairwise relatedness among individuals from site B compared to all the other locations, and this population had the lowest inbreeding coefficient. Genetic diversity and mean pairwise relatedness were highly variable among plants with multiple individuals; however, plants from sites F and M tend to have collections of individuals with higher mean pairwise relatedness compared to sites B and C. Our results indicate that there is genetic diversity and differentiation among mealy bugs in these locations, and that collections of individuals on the same plant are genetically diverse. As such, the mealy bugs throughout these areas are likely to be genetically diverse and exist in multiple distinct populations.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Ian Stocks (Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Gainesville) for his assistance in identifying mealy bugs, Lawrence Zettler (Illinois College) for providing a helpful review of the manuscript, Mike Owen (Fakahatchee Strand State Park) and Larry Richardson (Florida Panther Wildlife Refuge) for their outstanding experiences with navigating the sloughs of south Florida, and we also thank Bil Leidersdorf (Armstrong State University) for his assistance in the laboratory. Finally, we appreciate the financial support provided by the Department of Biology at Armstrong State University.
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Corresponding editor: Indrajit Nanda
[Zettler J. A., Adams K., Frederick B., Gutting A., Ingebretsen N., Ragsdale A. and Schrey A. 2017 Genetic structure of Pseudococcus microcirculus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) populations on epiphytic orchids in South Florida. J. Genet. 96, xx–xx]
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ZETTLER, J.A., ADAMS, K., FREDERICK, B. et al. Genetic structure of Pseudococcus microcirculus (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) populations on epiphytic orchids in south Florida. J Genet 96, 33–38 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12041-016-0736-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12041-016-0736-9