Genes, Vol. 10, Pages 812: Identification of Key Genes for the Precise Classification between Solenopsis invicta and S. geminata Facilitating the Quarantine Process

Genes, Vol. 10, Pages 812: Identification of Key Genes for the Precise Classification between Solenopsis invicta and S. geminata Facilitating the Quarantine Process Genes doi: 10.3390/genes10100812 Authors: Kil-Hyun Kim Ji-Su Kim Hyun-Ji Cho Jong-Ho Lee Tae-Hwan Jun Yang Jae Kang One of the 100 worst invasive exotic species, Solenopsis invicta (red imported fire ant), has the possibility to induce an allergic reaction that may eventually cause death from its aggressive stinging. In 2017, S. invicta was found at a container yard in Gamman Port, Busan, South Korea for the first time. It may result in an infestation of fire ants in the Korean environment. After this incident, sensitive quarantine procedures are required to detect possible contamination of fire ants in imported containers. However, currently, fire ant identification relies on phenotypic characteristics. This requires highly trained experts for identification and there are not enough to cover all imported containers. Here, we develop a key molecular marker to distinguish S. invicta from others using the whole genome sequence (WGS) of collected S. invicta from Gamman Port and NCBI-deposited WGS data of S.invicta and S. geminata. The consolidated genotypes of Solenopsis genus successfully indicate the distinguishable gene. The gel-based experimental validation confirmed expected classification and the developed cleaved amplified polymorphic sequences (CAPS) marker also gave a consistent result. Usi...
Source: Genes - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research