Abstract: Specific primers derived from the wsp gene sequence were used to amplify DNA of Wolbachia from seven populations of Tetranychus cinnabarinus in China by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The wsp characteristic 596 bp products were observed after amplification of extracts from four geographical populations (Jiamusi population of Heilongjiang Province, Anqing population of Anhui Province, Zhenjiang population of Jiangsu Province and Cixi population of Zhejiang Province) of T. cinnabarinus, but in other three populations (Weixian population of Hebei Province, Binzhou population of Shandong Province and Chibi population of Hubei Province) this gene was not found. The results showed that the infection of Wolbachia is widespread in T. cinnabarinus in China. By analyzing the wsp gene sequences of Wolbachia in T. Cinnabarinus through constituting the phylogenetical tree, we found that they were similar to or completely identical with the wsp gene sequence of some strains of Ori group in B supergroup of Wolbachia, and this indicates that they may be the same strain of Wolbachia or at least they are closed-related sister strains.

Key words: Tetranychus cinnabarinus, Wolbachia, wsp gene, sequence analysis