Cytochrome c oxidase I and cytochrome b gene sequences indicate low genetic diversity in South African Busseola fusca (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) from maize : short communications

The African maize stem borer, Busseola fusca, feeds on a limited number of host plant species (Calatayud et al. 2014), which include crops such as maize, pearl millet and sorghum. This pest occurs throughout sub-Saharan Africa where it causes economic damage to maize and sorghum crops (Kfir et al. 2002). In an attempt to combat lepidopteran stem borers, genetically modified Bt maize that express insecticidal Cry toxins were developed to kill larvae that feed on these plants (George et al. 2011). Bt maize was introduced into South Africa during 1998 and within the first decade after release, field-evolved resistance of B. fusca to Bt maize was reported (Van Rensburg 2007). Since this first report, resistant populations have been reported from several parts of the maize-production region of South Africa (Kruger et al. 2011; Van den Berg et al. 2013). Explanations provided for this rapid resistance development were confined to agronomical reasons (VanRensburg 2007; Kruger et al. 2009, 2011),non-compliance to refuge requirements (Kruger etal. 2009) and non-recessive inheritance of resistance (Campagne et al. 2013). Notmuchis however understood about the molecular genetics of B.fusca. Previously, Sezonlin et al. (2006b) noted that limited population genetic and phylogeography data are available for B. fusca.