Morphological and Molecular Identification of Novel Green Peach Aphids (Myzus persicae) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and Their Microbiome Diversity in Taif Governorate

Background: The green aphid (Myzus persicae) found in Taif Governorate is a sap-sucking insect that occurs globally. These insects target all the plant parts in both their nymphal and adult stages, causing them to discolour and dry out. Methods: In this study, 250-300 aphids were widely collected from rose plants in different locations in the Taif Governorate. These insects were identified using morphological traits and mitochondrial gene sequencing. Results: According to morphological traits, these samples belonged to the species Myzus persicae. Considering that aphid species are very similar morphologically, the identification of samples that were similar to more than one species was performed using their genetic characteristics. Aphid strain characterization through Sanger sequencing with multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and phylogenetic analysis revealed significant diversity, and comparing mitochondrial gene sequences of aphids with extant sequences in GenBank showed high similarity and a new strains was recorded in the NCBI database for the first time in Taif Governorate. For microbiome isolation, five bacterial species were isolated from M. persicae (Bacillus spp., Serratia spp., Staphylococcus, Micrococcus spp., and Escherichia coli). Our results showed a significant correlation between M. persicae and microbial communities. Future research should focus on discovering new strains of M. persicae and understanding the eco-evolutionary patterns of aphid-symbiont interactions in the Taif Governorate, particularly in biological control.