Scholarlink

<p>Ants are one of the most abundant insect groups on the planet and serve as the top predators in tropical ecosystems. They occupy virtually every niche in terrestrial ecosystems. <i>Oecophylla smaragdina</i> Fabricius, 1775, commonly known as Asian weaver ants, is one of the most important insects present in the underground arboreal ecosystem. For the identification of haplotypes and their phylogenetic construction, DNA barcoding is a molecular tool employed to understand molecular diversity, which we apply today. For the first time, we have sequenced the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (mtDNA COI) gene to construct the molecular phylogeny of the different <i>O. smaragdina</i> populations from 12 diverse landscapes in South India. A total count of nucleotide bases, Guanine and Cytosine (G + C) contents (%), and Adenine and Thymine (A + T) contents (%) was calculated using the sequencing of mtDNA COI genes of the <i>O. smaragdina</i> population. The difference in the molecular diversity index of nitrogenous bases (Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine, and Thymine from different populations) in diverse landscapes was statistically analyzed using the analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) - Tukey’s HSD test. Furthermore, a molecular phylogenetic tree (dendrogram) was constructed using the neighbor-joining method to understand the evolutionary relationships, revealing three main clusters that were dependent on genetic similarities among the various populations of O. smaragdina across the diverse landscapes of South India, exhibiting significant positive affinities. The molecular characterization of <i>O. smaragdina</i> populations, associated with their surroundings, including abiotic and biotic factors, opens a window to an unexpected aspect of their evolution and ecology. The availability of DNA tools for genetic diversity assessment will greatly facilitate and complement taxonomic studies. The present study provides DNA barcoding to analyze <i>O. smaragdina</i>, and the results support more evidence for studying the genetic distribution of <i>O. smaragdina</i> in south India.</p> Graphical abstract <p></p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Molecular diversity of various populations of Aasian weaver ants Oecophylla smaragdina using the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (mtDNA COI) gene in the Karnataka State of India

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年6月2日

查看全文
  • Somashekara Rajashekara,
  • Thaduru Chowdareddy Ganavi,
  • Hosagavi Sreerama Nisarga,
  • Huluvadi Boralingegowda Nithya,
  • Ramamurthy Shravani

摘要

Ants are one of the most abundant insect groups on the planet and serve as the top predators in tropical ecosystems. They occupy virtually every niche in terrestrial ecosystems. Oecophylla smaragdina Fabricius, 1775, commonly known as Asian weaver ants, is one of the most important insects present in the underground arboreal ecosystem. For the identification of haplotypes and their phylogenetic construction, DNA barcoding is a molecular tool employed to understand molecular diversity, which we apply today. For the first time, we have sequenced the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (mtDNA COI) gene to construct the molecular phylogeny of the different O. smaragdina populations from 12 diverse landscapes in South India. A total count of nucleotide bases, Guanine and Cytosine (G + C) contents (%), and Adenine and Thymine (A + T) contents (%) was calculated using the sequencing of mtDNA COI genes of the O. smaragdina population. The difference in the molecular diversity index of nitrogenous bases (Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine, and Thymine from different populations) in diverse landscapes was statistically analyzed using the analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) - Tukey’s HSD test. Furthermore, a molecular phylogenetic tree (dendrogram) was constructed using the neighbor-joining method to understand the evolutionary relationships, revealing three main clusters that were dependent on genetic similarities among the various populations of O. smaragdina across the diverse landscapes of South India, exhibiting significant positive affinities. The molecular characterization of O. smaragdina populations, associated with their surroundings, including abiotic and biotic factors, opens a window to an unexpected aspect of their evolution and ecology. The availability of DNA tools for genetic diversity assessment will greatly facilitate and complement taxonomic studies. The present study provides DNA barcoding to analyze O. smaragdina, and the results support more evidence for studying the genetic distribution of O. smaragdina in south India.

Graphical abstract