Development of DNA Barcoding Signatures for Pink Bollworm in Cotton Ecosystem Based on the Mitochondrial COI Gene

Background: Species identification is a highly specialized, time-consuming and rely significantly on the diagnostic features that are present mostly in the adult life stages which constrains the recognition, as many specimens lack these characters. Methods: In this study, we used molecular strategy to develop markers for the identification of the pink bollworm in the cotton ecosystem. This research was conducted at the Department of Agricultural Entomology and Department of Plant Biotechnology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu State, during 2021 and 2022. DNA sequences of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene were used to successfully develop DNA barcoding signatures for pink bollworm. Result: Using the MUSCLE alignment method in MEGA X software and by the use of phylogenetic tree, the sequences were segregated into Clade 1 (had a sequence length of 264 bp) and Clade 2 (had a sequence length of 164 bp) and for each clade DNA barcoding signatures were developed. With such molecular identity would be simple, rapid, precise and more reliable to identify Pectinophora gossypiella, as it is difficult to accurately identify this bollworm during its early life stages.