Strong selection of Colorado potato beetle (CPB) at insecticide resistance conferring loci has led to reduced alleleic diversity both at those loci and at linked loci. Mitochondrial DNA diversity is also reduced in pest populations of CPB relative to native nonpest populations. This reduced mtDNA diversity could be due to the colonization of potato, but may also indicate genetic hitchhiking or a selection induced genetic bottleneck due to selection for insecticide resistance. Hence, cytonuclear disequilibrium analysis can investigate the correlation between mitochondrial haplotypes and nuclear alleles. This analysis better explains the genetic variation observed at loci on each genome and helps to explain the reduction in mtDNA diversity found in pest populations of this insect.
Species 1: Coleoptera Chrysomelidae Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Colorado potato beetle)
Keywords: populations genetics, linkage disequilibrium
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