Primer design for identifying economically important Liriomyza species (Diptera: Agromyzidae) by multiplex PCR

Leafminer flies, especially, Liriomyza huidobrensis, Liriomyza sativae and Liriomyza trifolii, are quarantine species in many countries. Their morphological similarity makes identification difficult. To develop a rapid, reliable, sensitive and simple molecular identification method using multiplex PCR, we newly sequenced the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) genes of Liriomyza bryoniae, Liriomyza chinensis, L. huidobrensis, L. sativae, L. trifolii, Chromatomyia horticola and four parasitoid species. We aligned them with all the COI sequences of the leafminer flies found in the international DNA nucleotide sequence databases (DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank). We then designed species-specific primers to allow us to differentiate between L. bryoniae, L. chinensis, L. huidobrensis, L. sativae, and L. trifolii.