Progress 10/01/07 to 09/29/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: OUTPUTS: This project has supported the continued expansion of a voucher collection for armored scale insect slide-mounted specimens with purified genomic DNA. We used Hatch funds to purchase a camera that enhances our ability to document these specimens, share images to improve identification, and illustrate descriptions of new species. PARTICIPANTS: PARTICIPANTS: Graduate student Scott Schneider and senior research fellow Akiko Okusu worked on the project. Collaborator Zakee Sabree (now at Ohio State University) did a great deal of analysis and annotation of the genome of Uzinura. TARGET AUDIENCES: TARGET AUDIENCES: Plant Quarantine inspectors and other scale insect identifiers are the ones who have most directly applied the results of this research and will do so increasingly. The endosymbiont genome will be of interest to a broader audience of scientists who study insect and bacteria physiology, ecology, and evolution. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The complete genome of Uzinura diaspidicola (now published online) shows that it is the smallest "solo" insect endosymbiont genome, at only 263,431 base pairs. Smaller endosymbiont genomes are known, but only in cases where other endosymbionts co-occur. Recent work by others has shown that Uzinura is widely distrubuted across scale insects. Knowledge of its complete genome is a significant milestone in our understanding of the biology of this group of important pests.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 10/01/10 to 09/30/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: This project has supported the continued expansion of a voucher collection for armored scale insect slide-mounted specimens with purified genomic DNA. This year we completed sequencing of the primary endosymbiont of Aspidiotus nerii, Uzinura diaspidicola. We also developed and tested microsatellatite markers for another sale insect pest, cottony cushion scale (Icerya purchasi). PARTICIPANTS: Postdoc Akiko Okusu continued to work on the project. Completion and analysis of the Aspidiotus nerii endosymbiont genome was conducted in collaboration with Zakee Sabree of Yale University. Microsatellite marker development and study of Icerya purchasi was conducted in collaboration with Laura Ross here at the University of Massachusetts (recently moved to Oxford University, where she is continuing to collaborate with us on cottony cushion scale). TARGET AUDIENCES: Plant Quarantine inspectors and other scale insect identifiers are the ones who have most directly applied the results of this research and will do so increasingly. The endosymbiont genome will be of interest to a broader audience of scientists who study insect and bacteria physiology, ecology, and evolution. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
The genome sequence of the primary endosymbiont of Diaspididae is likely to yield fundamental insights into armored scale insect physiology, as well as molecular markers useful for the primary goals of the project. The microsatellite markers for the cottony cushion scale are being used in rearing studies that will yield insights into the very unusual breeding biology of this hermaphroditic pests species.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 10/01/09 to 09/30/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: This project has supported the assembly of a large data set of DNA sequences from armored scale insect specimens. PARTICIPANTS: Postdoc Akiko Okusu and undergraduate Amanda Krewinski worked on the project. Graduate student Roger Gwiazdowski is writing his dissertation which was funded in part by the project. TARGET AUDIENCES: Plant Quarantine inspectors and other scale insect identifiers are the ones who have most directly applied the results of this research and will do so increasingly. Because this useful for preventing invasion of pests that threaten agriculture, horticulture, and forestry, the public benefit of the research is broad. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Published sequence data funded in part by this project are increasingly being used for molecular identification of armored scale insect pests worldwide. See for example the following references. Edwards R, Carraher C, Poulton J, Sandanayaka M, Todd JH, Dobson S, et al. (2008) DNA diagnostics of three armored scale species on kiwifruit in New Zealand. J. Econ. Entomol. 101: 1944-1949. Rugman-Jones PF, Morse JG, Stouthamer R (2009) Rapid molecular identification of armored scale insects (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) on Mexican 'Hass' avocado. J Econ Entomol 102: 1948-53.
Publications
- Andersen, J. C., Gruwell, M. E. Morse, G. E., and B. B. Normark. 2010. Cryptic diversity in the Aspidiotus nerii complex in Australia. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 103: 844-854.
- Andersen, J. C., Wu, J., Gruwell, M. E. Gwiazdowski, R., Santana, S., Feliciano, N. M., Morse, G. E., and B. B. Normark. 2010. Phylogenetic analysis of armored scale insects (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) based on nuclear, mitochondrial, and endosymbiont DNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 57: 992-1003.
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Progress 10/01/08 to 09/30/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Preliminary data obtained from this research helped to secure significant new funding from USDA-AFRI (award 2009-02310) to implement a pilot molecular identification project for armored scale insects intercepted in quarantine. PARTICIPANTS: The three principal students whose research-related expenses were covered in part by the project: Jeremy Andersen, who completed an M.S. degree in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology in August 2009 (currently a Ph.D. student in the Dept. of Environmental Science Policy and Management at UC Berkeley); Rodger Gwiazdowski, joint Ph.D. student in Entomology and Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, UMass Amherst; and Isabelle Vea, now a Ph.D. student at the new Richard Gilder graduate school at the American Museum of Natural History. TARGET AUDIENCES: Preliminary data obtained from this research helped to secure significant new funding from USDA-AFRI (award 2009-02310) to implement a pilot molecular identification project for armored scale insects intercepted in quarantine. This includes travel to collaborate directly with personnel from APHIS-PPQ, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. These collaborations will allow our results to be of more direct assistance to front-line plant quarantine officers. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Outcomes: For the Aspidiotus nerii project (Objectives 1-4), a good deal of progress was made. Jeremy Andersen completed a data matrix of 4 loci X 23 individuals, including 5 localities from Australia. The data provide evidence of the existence of two cryptic species in Australia. A manuscript describing this work is in prep. For Chionaspis pinifoliae / heterophyllae complex (Objectives 5-8) progress continues. We find molecular evidence of over 20 species in the complex, and corroborating morphological evidence for 7 of these. Manuscripts describing this work, including species descriptions by Isabelle Vea, are in prep. For the Hemiberlesia lataniae/rapax complex (Objectives 9-12), preliminary molecular evidence indicates the existence of at least 3 species. Impacts: We are finding evidence multiple cryptic species in each pest complex we are examining. This has serious implications for plant quarantine. We have obtained significant USDA funding to explore and address these implications directly, in collaboration with personnel from APHIS-PPQ, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 10/01/07 to 09/30/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: For the Chionaspis pinifoliae / heterophyllae complex (Objectives 5-8) a great deal of progress was made. Rodger Gwiazdowski completed his extensive collecting across the USA and Mexico. Of the 70 pine species in North America, Rodger has sampled Chionaspis from 59. He has sampled from over 300 sites and has sequenced three genetic loci (cytochrome oxidase I-II, elongation factor 1-alpha, and part of the large ribosomal subunit; 2.5 kilobases total) from 430 individuals. A collaborator, Isabelle Vea, together with Rodger Gwiazdowski, has slide-mounted individuals for a large array of representative populations and has surveyed these for morphological variation. Two other projects on molecular identification of economically important insects are also underway, both involving natural enemies (parasitoid wasps) of forest pests, in collaboration with Roy Van Driesche. The first project tests the hypothesis that there is cryptic diversity within the species Encarsia citrina, an aphelinid parasitoid of Elongate Hemlock Scale (Fiorinia externa) and other armored scale insects. Kris Abell has prepared DNA from several different populations of E. citrina, and has developed new primers for the loci cytochrome oxidase I (COI) and the large ribosomal subunit (28S rDNA) as a tool for addressing this problem. The remaining project involves the molecular identification of different populations of ichneumonid parasitoids (Lathrolestes sp.) of Ambermarked Birch Leafminer. Anna Soper has prepared DNA from several different populations of Lathrolestes larvae and adults and has amplified COI fragments from each. PARTICIPANTS: Students whose research-related expenses were covered in part by the project: Rodger Gwiazdowski, joint Ph.D. student in Entomology and Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, UMass Amherst; Anna Soper, M.S. student in Entomology, UMass Amherst; Kris Abell, Ph.D. student in Entomology, UMass Amherst; Isabelle Vea, M.S. student at Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris. Rodger Gwiazdowski was the only individual who received any direct stipend support from the project. Information about all these students' research contributions is provided above under Outputs. Roy Van Driesche is the primary faculty advisor of Kris Abell and Anna Soper and is a Professor in the Department of Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences at UMass Amherst. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Rodger Gwiazdowski has found consistent differences between Chionaspis heterophyllae and Chionaspis pinifoliae across all 3 loci examined, and has found a large amount of variation at cytochrome oxidase I within presumptive Chionaspis pinifoliae. Some of this variation is congruent across all three loci, and this is the subject of ongoing analysis. Some of the divergent molecular haplotypes are associated with clear morphological differences, indicating at least a few diagnosable new species. Some of the putative new species are geographically isolated in Mexico, but one possible species pair is widely sympatric across Eastern North America. In short, Chionaspis pinifoliae is considered a polyphagous invasive pest, but may actually consist of several species, some of which are probably more specialized with respect to host and more restricted with respect to geography. But corroboration and details must await the completion of ongoing analyses and the completion of Rodger Gwiazdowski's dissertation work.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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