Molecular and Taxonomic Diversity of Cotton Leafhopper,Amrasca biguttula biguttula(Ishida) in Major Cotton Growing Districts of Karnataka

Abstract

Cotton leafhopper, Amrasca biguttula biguttula (Ishida) is an alarming pest causing both quantitative and qualitative losses on Bt cotton. Taxonomic identification results revealed that composite sample of adult cotton leafhopper population collected from Dharwad, Belgaum, Haveri, Mysore, Raichur, Yadgir districts was Amrasca biguttula biguttula (Ishida). Fragment of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene was amplified and sequenced from the cotton leafhoppers collected from six districts. COI gene sequences of A. biguttula of Belgaum, Haveri and Mysore districts showed 99 per cent similarity with NCBI published sequence of A. biguttula COI gene (HQ113231.1), while those from Raichur and Yadgir districts showed 98 per cent similarity. Population from Dharwad district showed 96 per cent similarity. Sequence analysis showed high similarity among the leafhopper population of major cotton growing districts of Karnataka.