COI-gene Based Molecular Identification of Chilo partellus Swinhoe (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) Infesting Maize in Lahore, Pakistan

The significance of maize (Zea mays L.) is well-known across the globe. Chilo partellus Swinhoe (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) is one of the severe biotic constraints of maize production in Afro-Asian countries like Pakistan. Mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) is considered as a universally accurate and authentic barcoding region to identify any insect species on the molecular level. In this study, the COI gene was selected for molecular identification of C. partellus. The insect larvae were collected from maize fields in Lahore, Pakistan. The sequence results revealed an amplicon size of 717 bp, which showed 100% homology to C. partellus species present in Karnataka, India upon BLAST. Maximum likelihood-based phylogenetic analysis with Chilo suppressalis and C. infuscatelus was studied and performed using MEGA 6. Multiple sequence alignment analysis showed the similarities and differences among intra- and interspecies levels. This is one of the primary or initial reports of molecular identification of lepidopterans in Pakistan. The study recommends utilization of molecular advancement for accurate species identification.