PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS AND SEQUENCING OF THE MITOCHONDRIAL CYTOCHROME OXIDASE SUB UNIT I (COI) OF WHITE BACKED PLANT HOPPER, SOGATELLA FURCIFERA (HORVATH)

Abstract

The family Delphacidae is the largest and most economically important one amongst the h oppers, Fulgoroide a . It has representatives in tropical and subtropical regions that occur in a variety of environments , and its known fossil records dates back to Jurassic period. Soga tella furcifera , the white backed plant hopper is a serious pest of ric e in many Asian countries. We have performed the phylogenetic reconstruction of the S . furcifera using the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I ( COI ) gene. Phylogenetic reconstructions of the COI regions were done using Neighbor joining method. This study gives a clear p icture of the mitochondrial gen ome of the insect and gives the phylogenetics of S. furcifera which help us to develop a sus tainable and accurate strategy for management of the pest.