Developing SCAR markers to study predation on Trialeurodes vaporariorum

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