Invasion of sorghum in the Americas by a new sugarcane aphid (Melanaphis sacchari) superclone.

ABSTRACT: In the United States (US), the sugarcane aphid (SCA) Melanaphis sacchari (Zehnter) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) was introduced in the 1970s, however at that time it was only considered a pest of sugarcane. In 2013, a massive outbreak of M. sacchari occured on sorghum, resulting in significant economic damage to sorghum grown in North America including the US, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. The aim of the present study was to determine if the SCA pest emergence in American sorghum resulted from the introduction of new genotypes. To this end we used microsatellite markers and COI sequencing to compare the genetic diversity of SCA populations collected in the Americas after the 2013 SCA outbreak on sorghum (during 2013-2017) to older samples collected before the pest outbreak (during 2007-2009). Our resu

SUBMITTER: Nibouche S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5919042 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature