Pervasive heteroplasmy in an invasive ambrosia beetle (Scolytinae) in southern California.

ABSTRACT: Heteroplasmy, the presence of multiple mitochondrial genotypes (mitotypes) within an individual, has long been thought to be a rare aberrance that is quickly removed by selection or drift. However, heteroplasmy is being reported in natural populations of eukaryotes with increasing frequency, in part due to improved diagnostic methods. Here, we report a seemingly stable heteroplasmic state in California populations of the polyphagous shothole borer (PSHB), Euwallacea fornicatus; an invasive ambrosia beetle that is causing significant tree dieback. We develop and validate a qPCR assay utilizing locked nucleic acid probes to detect different mitotypes, and qualitatively assess heteroplasmy in individual PSHB. We prove the utility of this assay by: (1) mitotyping field-collected PSHB, document

SUBMITTER: Rugman-Jones PF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11589772 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature