Deciphering host-parasitoid interactions and parasitism rates of crop pests using DNA metabarcoding.

ABSTRACT: An accurate estimation of parasitism rates and diversity of parasitoids of crop insect pests is a prerequisite for exploring processes leading to efficient natural biocontrol. Traditional methods such as rearing have been often limited by taxonomic identification, insect mortality and intensive work, but the advent of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) techniques, such as DNA metabarcoding, is increasingly seen as a reliable and powerful alternative approach. Little has been done to explore the benefits of such an approach for estimating parasitism rates and parasitoid diversity in an agricultural context. In this study, we compared the composition of parasitoid species and parasitism rates between rearing and DNA metabarcoding of host eggs and larvae of the millet head miner, Heliocheilus a

SUBMITTER: Sow A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6403368 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature