Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Rapid Molecular Species Identification Of A Morphologically Cryptic Apple Pest., Emily Green
Rapid Molecular Species Identification Of A Morphologically Cryptic Apple Pest., Emily Green
WWU Honors College Senior Projects
Effective management of agricultural pests depends upon accurate identification of those pests. In Washington State, identification of the apple maggot, Rhagoletis pomonella, is hindered by the presence of Rhagoletis zephyria, a morphologically almost identical species. Using real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), I identified three markers which differ in allele frequency between the two populations. Using these markers and the software NewHybrids, I was able to identify pure R. pomonella, R. zephyria, and hybrid flies collected from apple, snowberry, and blackhaw fruit in Bellingham, WA, and flies collected from blackhaw in central Washington. Modeling reveals that NewHybrids is able to distinguish …