Diversity and dynamics of microbial communities in brown planthopper at different developmental stages revealed by high-throughput amplicon sequencing.

The microbiome associated with brown planthopper (BPH) plays an important role in mediating host health and fitness. Characterization of the microbial community and its structure is prerequisite for understanding the intricate symbiotic relationships between microbes and host insect. Here, we investigated the bacterial and fungal communities of BPH at different developmental stages using high-throughput amplicon sequencing.

DNA barcoding evaluation and implications for phylogenetic relationships in ladybird beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae).

Ladybird beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), with broad morphological diversity, wide geographic distribution and substantial agricultural significance, are a challenging group for taxonomists and phylogenetics. As a promising tool to identify and discover new species, DNA barcoding might offer significant potential for identification, taxonomy and phylogeny of ladybird beetles. In the present study, a total of 1364 COI (cytochrome C oxidase subunit I) sequences representing 128 species from 52 genera of ladybird beetles were screened for barcoding evaluation and phylogenetic analysis.

Assessing the effectiveness of mitochondrial COI and 16S rRNA genes for DNA barcoding of farmland spiders in China.

DNA barcoding has been widely used to identify and discover new species in a wide range of taxa. In order to assess the effectiveness of COI (cytochrome C oxidase subunit I) and 16S (16S ribosomal RNA) in the discrimination of spiders, we have generated 289 barcodes for a total of 56 farmland spider species from 14 different families for the first time in China. Our results reveal that the standard barcoding marker COI can be used to distinguish the farmland spiders both in species and family level by NJ tree-based method, despite the absence of a barcode gap between the intra- and inter-specific genetic divergences.