Comparison on DNA patterns of different ecotypes of European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis Hübner) in Hungary

For a molecular genetic study on Hungarian populations of European corn borer L5 stage larvae were collected from 14 places of three different regions of the country (uni- and bivoltine ecotypes). Additionally, the study included larvae from Egypt, too (multivoltine ecotype). Molecular examinations of European corn borer larvae using the study of mitochondrial cytochrome b (cyt b) revealed that by single strand conformation polimorphism (SSCP) the populations found in Hungary represented the same haplotype. Even the Egyptian sample showed no genetic divergence. Some minor deviatons were found in the case of a sample from Székkutas, but that did not prove the genetic divergence of the bivoltine ecotype either, since the other samples of South-East Hungary did not display this kind of genetic variation. On the basis of our investigations it can be said that the univoltine and bivoltine generations, have uniform genetic complements.