Molecular analysis of Bruchophagus species (Hym.: Eurytomidae) associated with alfalfa in Iran.

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is recognized as one of the oldest perennial forages with considerable economic importance due to its characteristic biomass yield, quality forage, adaptability to various environments, and nitrogen fixation. The alfalfa seed chalcid, Bruchophagus spp. (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea, Eurytomidae), is a key pest of alfalfa seed production worldwide. In this study, we evaluated the phylogeny of different geographically isolated populations of the alfalfa seed chalcid using cytochrome oxidase c subunit one (COI) and elongation factor 1 alpha (Ef1α). The phylogenetic tree was created based on sequenced fragments by Maximum Likelihood (ML) analyses for 17 Iranian populations. Our phylogeny study suggested that the Bruchophagus species associated with alfalfa in Iran are monophyletic, and the monophyly was strongly supported by bootstrap values of 80-100% under Bruchophagus roddi (Gussakovsky). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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