Molecular Diversity of Various Populations of Asian Weaver Ants Oecophylla smaragdina Using the MitochondrialCytochrome Oxidase Subunit I (mtDNA COI) Gene in South India

Ants are one of the most abundant insect groups on the planet and serve as the top invertebrate predators in tropical levels of ecosystems. They occupy virtually every niche in terrestrial ecosystems. Oecophylla smaragdina Fabricius, 1775, commonly known as Asian weaver ants, is one of the most important insects present in the underground arboreal ecosystem. For the identification of haplotype and their phylogenetic construction, DNA barcoding is one such molecular tool employed for the understanding of molecular diversity that we have applied today. For the first time, we have sequenced the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (mtDNA COI) gene for the construction of the molecular phylogeny of the different populations of O. smaragdina from the diverse landscapes of South India. A total count of nucleotide bases, Guanine and Cytosine (G + C) contents (%), and Adenine and Thymine (A + T) contents (%) was calculated using the sequencing of mtDNA COI genes of the O. smaragdina population. The difference in the molecular diversity index of nitrogenous bases (Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine, and Thymine from different populations) in diverse landscapes was statistically analyzed using the analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) - Tukey’s HSD test. Furthermore, the molecular phylogenetic tree (dendrogram) was constructed by the neighbor-joining method to understand the evolutionary relationships and showed the three main clusters, which were dependent on the genetic similarities in the various populations of O. smaragdina of the diverse landscapes of South India, showing significant positive affinities. The molecular characterization of O. smaragdina populations associated with their surroundings, including abiotic and biotic factors, opens a window to an unpredicted aspect of the evolution and ecology. The availability of DNA tools for genetic diversity assessment will greatly facilitate and complement for taxonomic studies. The present study provides DNA barcoding to analyze O. smaragdina , and the results support more evidence for studying the genetic distribution of O. smaragdina in south India.