Genetic Variation Studies on Five Rhynchophorus Species and Different R. ferrugineus Populations

There are ten known species belonging to Rhynchophorus genus (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Rhynchophorinae). R. ferrugineus (Olivier) is an invasive species that originated from Southeast Asia, it has invaded Middle East and several countries of the Mediterranean Basin during the last three decades. The pest attacks different palm trees causing economic damages. Considering the economic importance of RPW, it is necessary to know the history of its invasion and to understand the relationships between the different geographic populations. In this work, I will review the genetic variation studies on different RPW populations and the genetic relationships among this species and other Rhynchophorus spp. In these studies, different molecular markers were used. These studies revealed that: RPW was more closely related to R. bilineatus while it was distantly related to R. palmarum, RPW evolved in its area of origin, RPW subdivided genetically into different sub-populations under the influence of genetic drift favored by founder events and RPW followed three different routes during its invasion.

Key words: Cytochrome oxidase c subunit 1 (CO1), Cytochrome b (Cytb), Genetic diversity, invasive species, Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD-PCR), microsatellites, non-functional internal transcribed spacer 2 Ribosomal DNA (ITS2-rDNA), Rhynchophorinae, Phylogeography.