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Disentangling mite predator-prey relationships by multiplex PCR
Consuelo Pérez-Sayas1, Tatiana Pina1, María A Gómez-Martínez1
1Departament de Ciències Agràries i del Medi Natural, Unitat Associada d'Entomologia UJI-IVIA, Universitat Jaume I (UJI), Campus del Riu Sec, 12071, Castelló de la Plana, Spain.
Molecular Ecology Resources
|April 1, 2015
Summary
Molecular gut content analysis effectively reveals predator-prey dynamics in tiny mites. Phytoseiulus persimilis, a key biological control agent, is identified as the most effective predator of agricultural pests like Tetranychus urticae.
Area of Science:
- Agricultural Entomology
- Molecular Ecology
- Biological Control
Background:
- Predator-prey relationships are crucial for understanding ecosystem dynamics, especially in pest management.
- Traditional methods for analyzing gut contents are often impractical for minute organisms like mites.
- Mite communities in citrus orchards involve herbivorous pests and predatory mites that act as biological control agents.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and apply molecular techniques for elucidating predator-prey interactions within a mite community in Spanish citrus orchards.
- To identify the most effective predatory mite species controlling herbivorous pests, Tetranychus urticae and Panonychus citri.
- To assess the utility of species-specific primers and PCR multiplexing for analyzing mite trophic interactions.
Main Methods:
- Design and multiplexing of species-specific DNA primers for two herbivorous mite prey (Tetranychus urticae, Panonychus citri) and six predatory mite species (Phytoseiidae).
- Estimation of prey DNA detectability success over time (DS50) for different predator-prey combinations.
- Application of molecular gut content analysis to field samples, weighting prey detection by DS50 values to quantify predation rates.
Main Results:
- Successful multiplex PCR amplification demonstrated the primers' ability to detect multiple prey species in predators.
- Prey DNA detectability success over time (DS50) varied significantly between predator-prey pairs, ranging from 0.2 to 18 hours.
- After correcting for predator abundance and DNA detectability, Phytoseiulus persimilis was found to be the most effective predator, consuming tetranychid mites approximately five times more frequently than Euseius stipulatus.
Conclusions:
- Molecular gut content analysis is a powerful and feasible tool for studying predator-prey interactions in small arthropods like mites.
- This approach provides quantitative insights into the efficacy of biological control agents in agricultural ecosystems.
- Phytoseiulus persimilis plays a more significant role in controlling Tetranychus urticae and Panonychus citri populations than previously estimated based solely on abundance.
