Identification and differentiation of three Nigerian Orseolia sp. by RAPD markers.

Identification and differentiation of three Nigerian Orseolia sp. (Orseolia nwanzei, Orseolia bonzii and Orseolia oryzivora) was carried out using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. Ninety operon primers were screened, from which 6 showed polymorphism among the three species tested, generating 54 bands, 69% of which were polymorphic with sizes ranging between 1000 and 3000 bp. DNA fingerprints of adults and pupae of each species were genetically identical. O. oryzivora and O. bonzii are identified as most closely related, while O. nwanzei is distinct. The DNA fingerprints identified for each Orseolia sp. will be useful for entomological survey for the identification of new species within the context of the effective development of rice cultivars with durable resistance to AfRGM.