Developing SCAR markers to study predation on Trialeurodes vaporariorum

DNA markers of Trialeurodes vaporariorum were developed to detect remains o f these whitefly in the gut of the predator Dicyphus tamaninii. A 2400-bp D NA fragment of T. vaporariorum, absent in other closely related prey specie s and in the predator banding pattern, was identified by random amplified p olymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. After cloning and sequencing this fragment, two pairs of sequence-characterized amplified region (SCAR) primers were d eveloped, amplifying single bands of 2100 bp and 310 bp, respectively. Dete ction of T. vaporariorum DNA in the predator gut was only possible using th e primers that amplified the shortest fragment. Specificity tests performed with this pair of primers showed the presence of the 310-bp band for T. va porariorum in all stages.