Abstract:  【Aim】 The objective of this study is to investigate the diversity and prevalence patterns of Wolbachia in populations of the Asian corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis in Xinjiang, northwestern China. 【Methods】 Wolbachia infection rates in 15 geographical populations of O. furnacalis collected from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region were detected, and six genes including wsp, ftsZ, gatB, coxA, hcpA and fbpA were subcloned and sequenced from each infected individual. Phylogenetic analysis and sequence typing of Wolbachia strains infecting O. furnacalis were performed based on wsp sequences and by multilocus sequence typing system (MLST), respectively. 【Results】 The Wolbachia infection rates in the 15 O. furnacalis populations ranged from 0 to 40.0%, with an average infection rate of 11.1% (no infected individual was detected in five populations). Phylogenetic trees based on wsp sequences and MLST allelic profiles indicated that two Wolbachia strains, i.e., wOfur1 and wOfur2, infected O. furnacalis populations in Xinjiang, which were assigned to the supergroup A and supergroup B, corresponding to MLST sequence type ST352 and ST37, respectively. Among the tested populations, four populations, i.e., populations from Changji (CJ), Fukang (FK), Manasi (MNS) and Qitai (QT), were infected with both strains, and six populations, i.e., populations from Hotan (HT), Korla (KEL), Yarkant (SC), Shule (SL), Urumqi (UM) and Xinhe (XH), were only infected with wOfur2. The average infection rates of wOfur1 and wOfur2 were 1.2% and 10.3%, respectively. Superinfection was found in MNS population tested. wsp and MLST clustering showed a closely genetic relationship between wOfur2 and several Wolbachia strains which had been proved to induce cytoplasmic incompatibility and male-killing to their insect hosts. 【Conclusion】 The two Wolbachia strains wOfur1 and wOfur2 show distinct differences in the infection rate and prevalence pattern in O. furnacalis populations in Xinjiang. Infection with wOfur2 is more frequent and widespread than that with wOfur1 in O. furnacalis populations.

Key words: Ostrinia furnacalis, geographical population, Wolbachia, infection rate, phylogenetic analysis