In order to characterize the genetic relationship of the geographic populations of Sitobion avenae （Hemiptera： Aphididae） in China, a 588 bp region of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I （mtDNA-COI） gene was sequenced and analyzed among the different geographic populations. 269 individuals were collected from 17 localities in different wheat-growing areas in China that covered most of the range reported for this species. Within the sequence among these geographic populations, 15 polymorphic sites defined 16 distinct haplotypes, ranging in sequence divergence from 0.2% （one nucleotide） to 1.7% （10 nucleotides）. Of the 15 variable sites, 12 were transitional substitutions, 2 were transversional substitutions and 1 was transitional and transversional substitution. Phylogenetic analysis showed that all haplotypes were highly interconnected with each other, in absence of phylogeographic structing. Each of 8 haplotypes was found only at one locality, and the other haplotypes were the widespread distributed in the different localities. The higher genetic diversity was found in the northern China populations than that in the southern China populations. The low genetic differentiation （FST=-0.06945-0.69857） and high migration rate （Nm=0.21575-infinite） of Chinese populations suggest that dispersal over long distance is a major factor in the demography of S. avenae.
XU Zhao-huanCHEN Ju-lianCHENG Deng-faLIU YongFrédéric Francis
The full-length c DNA of functionally-unknown salivary protein C002 in Schizaphis graminum was cloned using rapid amplification of c DNA ends（RACE） and designated as Sg C002（Gen Bank accession no. KC977563）. It is 767 bp long and encodes a protein of 190 amino acid residues with a predicted mass of 21.5 k Da and a predicted cleavage site of N-terminal signal peptide between the 24 th and the 25 th residues. Sg C002 is specifically expressed in salivary gland with the highest level at the 2nd instar. Introducing Sg C002-specific 476-si RNA, but not 546-si RNA to aphids through artificial diet significantly suppressed Sg C002 expression. Silencing Sg C002 gene led to lethality of the aphid on wheat plants, but not on pure artificial diet. Our study demonstrated that artificial diet-mediated RNAi can be a useful tool for research on the roles of genes in aphid salivary gland, and also provided new insights into the characteristics of C002 in wheat aphids.
