Identificación of aphid species isolated from tomato crops using phylogenetic approaches in Riyadh and Hafar Al-Batin, Saudi Arabia
Aphids are common agricultural pests found
worldwide and cause significant economic losses to
farmers. Although these pests are of economic importance,
information on their genome is limited.
We examined the sequence diversity of two genes,
the mitochondrial gene, subunit I of cytochrome
oxidase (COI) and the 16S rRNA-encoding sequence
of aphids sourced from tomato farms from
two geographical regions of Saudi Arabia (Riyadh
and Hafar Al-Batin). Partial sequences of COI
(from 12 aphid isolates) and 16S rRNA-encoding
sequence (from five aphid isolates) were separately
amplified using polymerase chain reaction and sequenced
to reveal the genomic similarity among
specimens of 92–99% and 95.7%, respectively. Our
data did not indicate any differences between aphid
isolates. These results demonstrate that the present
species are deeply embedded in the Aphis genus
and share a close relationship with other Aphis species,
including Aphis gossypii as a putative sister
taxon. These isolates cannot be categorized as belonging
to two different groups with origins in Riyadh
and Hafar Al-Batin.
Aedes aegypti (Culicidae), the mosquito that causes yellow fever, is regarded as a significant vector for
many disease agents. The current study sought to learn more about mosquito mid-gut…