Genetic implications of a biological invasion: Chromosomal and DNA barcode monomorphism in Old World populations of Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Once introduced into new area, invasive species can be expected to have low genetic diversity due to the founder effect. Here we tested this prediction using cytogenetic and molecular analysis of Armenian and Belarusian populations of Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say, 1824) and by comparing the results with those of native (North America) and those introduced into Europe. This revealed that the karyotype of males from Armenia and Belarus is remarkably conserved with 2n = 35 (34 + X0), n = 17AA + X0; and includes a pair of large acrocentric chromosomes. Thus, these populations belong to the so-called acrocentric chromosome race of the Colorado potato beetle. At diakinesis there are clearly visible argentophilic signals, probably NORs (the nucleolus organizer regions) present on some autosomal bivalents, while the X chromosome was homogenously argentophilic during different stages of meiosis. C-banding revealed a small amount of constitutive heterochromatin weakly visible in the pericentromeric regions of some chromosomes. Analysis of the DNA-barcode fragment of the gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) revealed a single haplotype (we call it “the European haplotype”) and lack of inter-population variability in all the samples collected from different locations in Armenia and Belarus. The comparison of our karyological and molecular data with that available in the literature and GenBank shows that all the populations studied from the Old World are monomorphic with respect to karyotype and the mitochondrial DNA-barcode. We assume that (1) the presence of acrocentric chromosomes in the karyotype and (2) the European haplotype of mitochondrial genome are the ancestral states for all populations in the Old World and inherited from the New World invaders who colonized Europe 100 years ago. New World populations are polymorphic with respect to karyotype and mitochondrial genes; however, the European haplotype has not yet been found in America. We believe that in the future it will be found in North America, which will shed light on the origin of populations of this dangerous pest in Eurasia.