Evaluation of Mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit I Sequences in Tetranychus kanzawai Kishida (Acari: Tetranychidae) for Phylogeographic Studies

Abstract

We studied mitochondrial DNA variation in the Kanzawa spider mite, Tetranychus kanzawai, based on 705-bp sequences of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene from 23 strains. Fifty-two sites (7.4%) were polymorphic, but we did not find substitution saturation in this gene. Thus, this region was thought suitable for phylogeographic analysis at the intra-specific level. Maximum likelihood trees showed that all of the studied strains of T. kanzawai formed a single lineage. However, geographic and genetic distances were not significantly correlated. Thus, to obtain sufficient polymorphisms for phy-logeographic analysis of T. kanzawai, the development of new primers to amplify more variable regions will be required.