Molecular diagnosis Carpophilus dimidiatu (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) based on species-specific PCR

Abstract

Carpophilus dimidiatu (Fabricius), Carpophilus Pilosellus Motschulsky and Omosita colom (Linnaeus) are often found in food industry and stored products in China. C. dimidiatu is one common importance of nitidulid beetles pests. It is difficult to identify them only based on morphological characteristics. In this study, we describe species-specific PCR for the molecular identification of C. dimidiatu from C. Pilosellus and O. colon. Species-specific primer pairs were designed on the basis of variations in the mtDNA COI sequences. A 540bp-specific fragment of C. dimidiatu is generated by its species-specific prime pairs, whilst no such diagnostic bands were present in any of the two pest nitidulid beetles species tested. The results of the sensitivity test demonstrated that the detection limit of DNA template concentration was 0.5 ng/μL for C. dimidiatu. This study exhibited high specificity, reliability, rapid and low cost for C. dimidiatu diagnosis. Our data show that species-specific PCR is a powerful tool that can be used for the identification of nitidulid beetles pests.