Assessment of genetic diversity of Callosobruchus maculatus populations of Tamil Nadu through mt-COI maker

Callosobruchus maculatus is a serious pest in Indian subcontinent, which infests wide range of legumes and causes huge losses in the stored pulse grains. As the larvae, pupae and pre-emergence adults live inside the seeds, the initial infestations are hard to detect and hence the pest build up and movement. The understanding of genetic structure and pest movement is of prime importance in confining the pest and deploying management practices, but there have not been many studies, focusing on the genetic structure at regional level in Tamil Nadu. Hence, in our study we have characterized 14 different populations from distinct geographical locations using mt-COI sequences. Our analysis showed that there are more haplotypes, low nuclear diversity and distinct structuration among populations. This is further supported by AMOVA and high Fst value. However, we did not find any significant influence of geographical locations on population structure.