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 phylogeographic analysis of T. kanzawai, the development of new primers to amplify more variable regions will be required.