Abstract:

To investigate the genetic differentiation and gene flow among different populations of the Asian corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis (Guenée), in China, we analyzed COⅡ sequences of mitochondrial DNA in 17 geographical populations. In the total 413 COⅡ gene sequences obtained, 34 variable sites and 35 haplotypes were observed. The mean haplotype diversity of all populations was 0.811, whereas it varied from 0.424 to 0.862 within population. The average gene flow (Nm) among the 17 populations was 2.02. The overall Fst value was 0.234. Molecular variance (AMOVA) analysis indicated that a high proportion of the total genetic variance was attributable to variations within populations (76.45%). The Tajima’s D value neutrality test results suggest that for the Asian corn borer, there might be no population expansion, so their population sizes were steady. The genetic distance was not significantly correlated with the geographical distance between populations. The phylogenetic tree revealed no obvious geographical pattern for the prevalence and distribution of the haplotypes.

Key words: Ostrinia furnacalis, geographic population, mitochondrial COⅡ gene, haplotype, genetic differentiation, gene flow