GENETIC VARIATIONS AMONG THE RED PALM WEEVIL Rhynchophorus ferrugineus POPULATIONS COLLECTED FROM EGYPT

In the present study, genetic variations among the Red palm weevil (RPW) Rhychophorus ferrugineus collected from three different regions of Egypt were studied using random amplified polymorphic DNA marker (RAPD) and partial sequence of mitochondrial Cytochrome c subunit 1 gene (CO1). RAPD analysis was carried out using ten oligonucleotides primers. The number of reproducible bands per primer varied between 5 and 16 bands with a total of 120 bands. From the 120 bands, 82 (68.33%) were polymorphic and 38 bands (31.67%) were monomorphic. The used primers generated 42 unique bands (RAPD markers). Genetic similarity recorded among the three populations under investigation on the base of their banding patterns in RAPD indicated that there is no relation between the genetic similarity and the geographical region. PCR product for amplification of CO1 gene gave a single band of about 1200 bp. The nucleotide composition was 58% of A-T and 42% of G-C for the partial sequence of CO1 gene (340 nt). In Neighbor-Joining tree between Egyptian and GenBank CO1 sequences, the three Egyptian populations of RPW CO1 haplo-types were clustered together and were very close to H17 haplotype. According to RAPD analysis, unique markers may be used to produce genetic markers that can distinguish between the geographic populations of RPW. Also, the results of the present study and compared with the previous studies, indicated that there may be more than one mitochondrial CO1 haplotype in Egypt. These results suggested that RPW may be introduced from the same or different origins.