DOI: https://doi.org/10.21276/AATCCReview.2025.13.01.389

Abstract

Pink boll worm, Pectinophora gossypiella became serious pest on BG II cotton hybrids globally
causing huge economic losses in cotton even during later stages of crop growth. Understanding the
genetic background and diversity of insect pests can aid in understanding their evolution in changing
environments, hence aiding in effecting their management in an agricultural ecosystem. In the present
investigation, the population genetic structure, distribution, and genetic diversity of  P.gossypiella  in
cotton growing zones of India using the partial mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase-I (COI) gene was
addressed. Results revealed a total of 9 haplotypes (17.64%) identified from 51 individual sequences
distributed in 16 populations belonging to different cotton growing zones of India. Diversity analysis of
COI sequences revealed low genetic diversity (0.000 to 0.01066), high haplotype diversity (0.800), low
nucleotide diversity (0.002), negative Tajima D (-0.670) values and high gene flow. This data on
population genetics indicate populations of pink bollworm are genetically similar and Hap5, as an
ancestral haplotype from which other haplotypes have evolved suggests that the migration and dispersal
over long distance and invasiveness are major factors.

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