01 Oca 2026 Perşembe
Deciphering phylogenetic connections among the insect species based on the nucleotide and amino acid similarities of three ubiquitously occurring genes, vitellogenin receptor (vgr), acetylcholine esterase (ache) and superoxide dismutase (sod)
Abstract : Nucleotide and amino acid sequences that are conserved across different species are increasingly being used to determine phylogenetic relationships and establish genetic similarities. We applied this method to the melon fruit fly, Zeugodacus cucurbitae, a significant pest of cucurbit plants. After sequencing its entire genome, we selected three genes: vitellogenin receptor (VgR), acetylcholine esterase (AChE), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) along with their corresponding protein sequences, to investigate the phylogenetic affinity of this species with over twenty other insect species whose such sequences were available in the database. Using the UPGMA (Unweighted Pair Group Method with Arithmetic Mean) method, we constructed dendrograms depicting phylogenetic connections among the concerned species. The results revealed that the vitellogenin receptor (VgR) gene and its protein have experienced a moderate rate of evolutionary change over time. This is evidenced by the clear separation of species into distinct clusters based on their taxonomic order. This finding suggests that the VgR gene is a suitable molecular marker for distinguishing between insect species. Therefore, we propose that the vitellogenin receptor (VgR) gene, beside other conventional genes, could be one of the useful molecular markers for DNA barcoding to delineate insect species.