Species and strain identification of the predatory mite Euseius finlandicus by RAPD-PCR and ITS sequences

The variation within and between Finnish Euseius finlandicus populations was investigated by RAPD-PCR and ITS sequence analyses. Resin DNA extraction was found to be a suitable method for samples of single mites used in PCR. The banding patterns from 24 RAPD primers and 10 primer pairs were very similar and reproducible in all specimens of the predatory mite studied. However, the E. finlandicus K-strain could be distinguished from organophosphate-resistant predatory mites (R-strain), since almost all of them produced a 1,400 bp RAPD-PCR product, which was missing or very rare in other strains studied. Another RAPD band of ca. 680 bp was in turn much more common in other mites of E. finlandicus than in the K-strain mites. Mite specific primers were designed and used to follow the survival of the R-strain released on apple trees. The 680 bp band obtained with specific primers was specific to the species E. finlandicus mites studied, including those that had been negative with RAPD primers. The 1,400 bp specific primers could be used as a marker for following the survival of R-strain mites on apple trees. At the species level it was possible to distinguish adults and eggs of E. finlandicus from Anthoseius rhenanus and Phytonemus pallidus by RAPD-PCR. In addition, a band at 480bp was found to correspond to DNA of the predatory mite Phytoseius macropilis, when both specific primer pairs were used together. It was not possible to amplify the ITS region of E. finlandicus rDNA using several primer pairs that work in other mites and aphids. However, a basidiomycete rDNA sequence was amplified with one of these ITS primer pairs in K-strain mites. Finally, it was found that fungal rDNA-specific primers amplified an ITS region of ca. 650 bp in several strains of E. finlandicus. Internal primers, designed to amplify the central part of the 650 bp product, successfully amplified this product from all the mites.