TY - JOUR AU - Andrić, Andrijana AU - Kočiš Tubić, Nataša AU - Đan, Mihajla AU - Vujić, Ante AU - Obreht Vidaković, Dragana PY - 2017/08/11 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Assessment of genetic diversity within the Merodon ruficornis species group (Diptera: Syrphidae) by RAPD analysis JF - Archives of Biological Sciences JA - Arch Biol Sci VL - 69 IS - 3 SE - Articles DO - UR - https://www.serbiosoc.org.rs/arch/index.php/abs/article/view/871 SP - 553-560 AB - <div><p>As one of the most distinct groups in the hoverfly<em> </em>genus<em> Merodon</em>, the monophyletic <em>ruficornis</em> species group has been the focus of several studies using different approaches. Molecular methods have shown incongruences between morphological and molecular data. In the present study, we investigated four species of the <em>Merodon ruficornis</em> group (i.e. <em>M. loewi</em>,<em> M. armipes</em>,<em> M. papillus </em>and <em>M. hoplitis</em>) with the aim of detecting intra- and interspecific genetic diversity, and we examined the usefulness of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) in an integrative taxonomic approach to species delimitation. Analysis of Nei’s genetic variation over all loci showed that genetic diversity for the analyzed <em>Merodon</em> species was h=0.24. Based on UPGMA, PCoA and Bayesian clustering analyses, our results clearly differentiated four groups that correspond to the four morphologically-defined <em>Merodon</em> species. Among the analyzed species, <em>M. armipes</em> and <em>M. hoplitis</em> showed the lowest level of genetic divergence; <em>M. loewi </em>was clearly separated from both<em> M. armipes </em>and<em> M. papillus</em>. Based on our data, we propose the use of RAPD-PCR as an additional tool for resolving taxonomic problems within <em>Merodon</em>.</p><p><a href="https://doi.org/10.2298/ABS160729131A" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.2298/ABS160729131A</a></p><p><strong>Received:</strong> July 29, 2016; <strong>Revised:</strong> November 15, 2016; <strong>Accepted:</strong> December 5, 2016; <strong>Published online:</strong> December 8, 2016</p><p><strong>How to cite:</strong> Andrić A, Kočiš-Tubić N, Đan M, Vujić A, Obreht Vidaković D. Assessment of genetic diversity within the Merodon ruficornis species group (Diptera: Syrphidae) by RAPD analysis. Arch Biol Sci. 2017;69(3):553-60.</p></div> ER -