Mitochondrial DNA Genetic Diversity of the Drywood Termites Incisitermes minor and I. snyderi (Isoptera: Kalotermitidae)
Abstract
The western drywood termite, Incisitermes minor (Hagen) and the light southern drywood termite I. snyderi (Light) are common drywood termites in southwestern and the southern United States, respectively. Despite the economic importance of these 2 species, no information exists on the mitochondrial genetic diversity of I. minor and I. snyderi. A molecular genetics study involving DNA sequencing of a portion of the mitochondrial DNA 16S rRNA gene was undertaken to determine the extent of genetic variation in I. minor and I. snyderi. A total of 12 haplotypes were observed for I. minor collected from Florida, Oregon, Arizona, Texas, Utah, and California. For I. snyderi, a total of 10 haplotypes were observed from the Bahamas, Florida, Georgia, and Texas. Genetic variation among I. minor haplotypes ranged from 0.7 to 3.7% and variation for I. snyderi ranged from 0.7 to 2.4%. Maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood analysis revealed 3 distinct clades for I. snyderi, whereas, I. minor had 2 distinct clades. This is the first study on mitochondrial genetic variation of the drywood termites I. minor and I. snyderi. There appears to be enough genetic variation within these 2 species for a molecular phylogeographic study, which may provide insight into dispersal and introductions of these species.La termita de madera seca del oeste, Incisitermes menor (Hagen) y la termita clara de madera seca del sur, I. snyderi (Clara) son termitas comunes de madera seca el suroeste y el sur de los Estados Unidos, respectivamente. A pesar de la importancia económica de estas dos especies, no existe información sobre la diversidad genética mitocondrial de I. minor e I. snyderi. Se realizó un estudio de genética molecular que incluyó la secuenciación de una porción del ADN mitocondrial del gen 16S rARN para determinar el grado de variación genética en I. minor e I. snyderi. Un total de 12 haplotipos fueron observados en especimenes de I. minor colectados en la Florida, Oregon, Arizona, Texas, Utah y California. Para I. snyderi, un total de 10 haplotipos fueron observados en especimenes de las Bahamas, Florida, Georgia y Texas. La variación genética entre los haplotipos de I. minor fue entre 0.7 y 3.7% y la variación de I. snyderi fue entre 0.7 y 2.4%. El análisis de la parsimonia máxima y probabilidad máxima reveló tres clados (grupos) diferentes de I. snyderi, mientras que, I. minor tenía dos clados. Este es el primer estudio sobre la variación genética mitocondrial de las termitas de madera seca I. minor e I. snyderi. Parece que hay suficiente variación genética dentro de estas dos especies para un estudio molecular filogeográfico, lo que puede dar una idea de la dispersión y la introducción de estas especies.
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