{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,14]],"date-time":"2025-05-14T04:19:27Z","timestamp":1747196367805,"version":"3.40.5"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,27]],"date-time":"2023-12-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1703635200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The Coccinellidae is a highly diversified family of order Coleoptera. Coccinellid ladybirds are well known for their role as biological control agent against varied range of agricultural pests. The samples of coccinellid ladybird collected from Pakistan were identified and characterized as <jats:italic>Micraspis allardi<\/jats:italic> (Mulsant, 1866). This is one of the least-studied ladybird species with limited work on its ecological distribution as a biological control agent. The genus <jats:italic>Micraspis<\/jats:italic> has vast genetic diversity with a possible presence of unknown number of cryptic species. Sequence information of some species of the genus Micraspis are present in NCBI database. However, least molecular data or sequences describing <jats:italic>M<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>allardi<\/jats:italic> could be available from database. Therefore, morphological and molecular characterization was imperative for this species. Here, the samples collected from sugarcane field of Faisalabad District of Pakistan and were identified by using morphological and molecular protocols. For molecular identification, two different regions of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene (COI-5\u2032 and COI- 3\u2032) were used as molecular markers for the identification of the species. Morphological appearance, DNA sequence similarity searches and phylogenetic analysis collectively indicated it as <jats:italic>M<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>allardi<\/jats:italic>. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report providing molecular evidence of <jats:italic>M<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>allardi<\/jats:italic> using mitochondrial DNA barcode region (658bp) as well as mtCOI-3\u02b9 sequences (817bp). The study will help in understanding population genetics through diversity analysis, ecological role, and phenotypic structures associated with the geographic range of this species.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0294034","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,27]],"date-time":"2023-12-27T18:21:31Z","timestamp":1703701291000},"page":"e0294034","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Molecular characterization of mitochondrial COI gene sequences in Micraspis allardi from Pakistan"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Rida","family":"Asrar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mariyam","family":"Masood","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5977-0438","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Imran","family":"Bodlah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ghulam","family":"Rasool","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nazia","family":"Suleman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5525-9042","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Sumaira","family":"Yousaf","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,27]]},"reference":[{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0294034.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"174","DOI":"10.1111\/een.13212","article-title":"Invasion of the coccinellid community associated with a tropical annual agroecosystem","volume":"48","author":"DA Andow","year":"2023","journal-title":"Ecological Entomology"},{"issue":"8","key":"pone.0294034.ref002","first-page":"910","volume":"SP-11","author":"P Nagdev","year":"2022","journal-title":"Feeding efficiency of predatory coccinellid beetle, Menochilus sexmaculatus (Fabricius) on cowpea aphid (Aphis craccivora Koch) under laboratory conditions at Raipur, Chhattisgarh"},{"key":"pone.0294034.ref003","article-title":"Predation performance and survival of susceptible and pyrethroid-resistant Eriopis connexa Germar (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) to insecticides used in brassica crops","author":"R Lira","year":"2023","journal-title":"Pest Management Science"},{"issue":"803","key":"pone.0294034.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"93","DOI":"10.3897\/zookeys.803.22543","article-title":"An annotated checklist of Coccinellidae with four new records from Pakistan (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae)","author":"M Ali","year":"2018","journal-title":"ZooKeys"},{"key":"pone.0294034.ref005","first-page":"1","article-title":"Notes on coccinellid beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) from forest ecosystem of Uttarakhand, India","volume":"24","author":"AK Mishra","year":"2019","journal-title":"Journal of Biological Control"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0294034.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"497","DOI":"10.11646\/zootaxa.4712.4.2","article-title":"A preliminary checklist of the Coccinellidae of Bhutan (Insecta: Coleoptera)","volume":"4712","author":"C Dorji","year":"2019","journal-title":"Zootaxa"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0294034.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1970","DOI":"10.20546\/ijcmas.2018.704.226","article-title":"Feeding Efficiency of Six Beetle Species against Mustard Aphid, Lipaphis erysimi (Kalt.) in Uttarakhand, India","volume":"7","author":"S Pal","year":"2018","journal-title":"Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. App. Sci"},{"key":"pone.0294034.ref008","first-page":"13","article-title":"Records of the predators of aphids (Homoptera: Aphididae) in eastern Uttar Pradesh","volume":"25","author":"HC Chaudhary","year":"2012","journal-title":"The Aphidiological Society of India"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0294034.ref009","article-title":"Population dynamics of predatory coccinilids in cereal crops of district Faisalabad","volume":"56","author":"N Ehsan","year":"2019","journal-title":"Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0294034.ref010","first-page":"207","article-title":"Coccinellid predators beetles of insect pests of citrus in the Indian Punjab","volume":"37","author":"S Singh","year":"2010","journal-title":"Crop Improvement"},{"key":"pone.0294034.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"121","DOI":"10.18641\/jbc\/30\/2\/100585","article-title":"Predatory coccinellids of insect pests of Assam lemon (Citrus limon L. Burmf) in Jorhat district of Assam","volume":"26","author":"HR Ramya","year":"2016","journal-title":"Journal of Biological control"},{"key":"pone.0294034.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.17582\/pujz\/2018.33.1.1.6","article-title":"Diversity and Distribution of Coccinellid Beetles in Irrigated and Rainfed Fields of Gujrat, Punjab, Pakistan","volume":"33","author":"M Hussain","year":"2018","journal-title":"Punjab Univ. J. Zool"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0294034.ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.17582\/journal.pjz\/2017.49.5.1749.1759","article-title":"Biodiversity and Species Distribution of Coccinellids (Coccinellidae: Coleoptera) in District Sargodha (Punjab), Pakistan","volume":"49","author":"KS Ahmed","year":"2017","journal-title":"Pakistan Journal of Zoology"},{"key":"pone.0294034.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"107045","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ympev.2020.107045","article-title":"New insights into the phylogeny and evolution of lady beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) by extensive sampling of genes and species","volume":"156","author":"L Che","year":"2021","journal-title":"Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution"},{"key":"pone.0294034.ref015","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"479","DOI":"10.1038\/418479a","article-title":"DNA points the way ahead in taxonomy","volume":"418","author":"D. Tautz","year":"2002","journal-title":"Nature"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0294034.ref016","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"47","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1096-0031.2003.00008.x","article-title":"Myth of the molecule: DNA barcodes for species cannot replace morphology for identification and classification","volume":"20","author":"KW Will","year":"2004","journal-title":"Cladistics"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0294034.ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"15528","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-022-18666-y","article-title":"DNA barcodes reveal population-dependent cryptic diversity and various cases of sympatry of Korean leptonetid spiders (Araneae: Leptonetidae)","volume":"12","author":"JH Oh","year":"2022","journal-title":"Scientific Reports"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0294034.ref018","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1186\/s41938-022-00625-4","article-title":"Stethorini (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae: Coccinellinae) of South India: their associated mite species and barcode gap analysis","volume":"32","author":"CV Vidya","year":"2022","journal-title":"Egyptian Journal of Biological Pest Control"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0294034.ref019","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10063","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-020-66874-1","article-title":"An integrative DNA barcoding framework of ladybird beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)","volume":"10","author":"W Huang","year":"2020","journal-title":"Scientific Reports"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0294034.ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"137","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ympev.2011.03.015","article-title":"Phylogeny, classification and evolution of ladybird beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) based on simultaneous analysis of molecular and morphological data","volume":"60","author":"AE Seago","year":"2011","journal-title":"Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0294034.ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"629","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1755-0998.2011.03007.x","article-title":"Barcode haplotype variation in north American agroecosystem lady beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)","volume":"11","author":"MH Greenstone","year":"2011","journal-title":"Molecular Ecology Resources"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0294034.ref022","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1080\/24701394.2018.1446950","article-title":"DNA barcoding evaluation and implications for phylogenetic relationships in ladybird beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)","volume":"30","author":"ZL Wang","year":"2019","journal-title":"Mitochondrial DNA Part A"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0294034.ref023","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"377","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1755-0998.2012.03119.x","article-title":"An emergent science on the brink of irrelevance: a review of the past 8 years of DNA barcoding","volume":"12","author":"H. R. Taylor","year":"2012","journal-title":"Mol.Ecol. Resour"},{"key":"pone.0294034.ref024","first-page":"1","article-title":"Taxonomy and Biological Control: New Challenges in an Old Relationship","volume":"19","author":"EM Shimbori","year":"2023","journal-title":"Neotropical Entomology"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0294034.ref025","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"595","DOI":"10.1080\/10635150600852011","article-title":"Sequence-based species delimitation for the DNA taxonomy of undescribed insects","volume":"55","author":"J Pons","year":"2006","journal-title":"Systematic biology"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0294034.ref026","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"71","DOI":"10.1007\/s41348-021-00548-6","article-title":"Occurrence and molecular identification of an invasive rice strain of fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) from Sindh, Pakistan, using mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I gene sequences","volume":"129","author":"S Yousaf","year":"2022","journal-title":"Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0294034.ref027","first-page":"39","article-title":"DNA Barcoding as A Tool for Taxonomic Identification of Ladybird Beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) from Pakistan: A Review","volume":"6","author":"A Hanif","year":"2023","journal-title":"Pak-Euro Journal of Medical and Life Sciences"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0294034.ref028","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"355","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1471-8286.2007.01678.x","article-title":"BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data System (http:\/\/www.barcodinglife.org)","volume":"7","author":"S Ratnasingham","year":"2007","journal-title":"Molecular ecology notes"},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0294034.ref029","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"833","DOI":"10.1038\/nbt.3935","article-title":"Shotgun metagenomics, from sampling to analysis","volume":"35","author":"C Quince","year":"2017","journal-title":"Nature biotechnology"},{"key":"pone.0294034.ref030","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"giac123","DOI":"10.1093\/gigascience\/giac123","article-title":"The opportunities of research parasitism: A case study using the Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD)","volume":"11","author":"J. Pilgrim","year":"2022","journal-title":"GigaScience"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0294034.ref031","first-page":"12","article-title":"Subfamilies Coccinellinae and Coccidulinae (Coccinellidae: Coleoptera) with new records from AJK, Pakistan","volume":"7","author":"A. Hayat","year":"2017","journal-title":"Journal of Applied Environmental and Biological Sciences"},{"key":"pone.0294034.ref032","unstructured":"Majerus M, P Kearns, Naturalists Hand Books \u201cLady Birds\u201d University of Cambridge. Richmond Publishing Co. Ltd. England. 1989101pp."},{"issue":"10","key":"pone.0294034.ref033","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1683","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1365-294x.1999.00754.x","article-title":"A phylogeographical analysis of the Bemisia tabaci species complex based on mitochondrial DNA markers","volume":"8","author":"DR Frohlich","year":"1999","journal-title":"Molecular ecology"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0294034.ref034","first-page":"294","article-title":"DNA primers for amplification of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I from diverse metazoan invertebrates","volume":"3","author":"R. Vrijenhoek","year":"1994","journal-title":"Mol Mar Biol Biotechnol"},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0294034.ref035","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1870","DOI":"10.1093\/molbev\/msw054","article-title":"MEGA7: molecular evolutionary genetics analysis version 7.0 for bigger datasets","volume":"33","author":"S Kumar","year":"2016","journal-title":"Molecular biology and evolution"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0294034.ref036","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"367","DOI":"10.3390\/insects11060367","article-title":"A new tribe of the ladybird beetle subfamily Microweiseinae (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) discovered on an island in the North Atlantic Ocean","volume":"11","author":"K Szawaryn","year":"2020","journal-title":"Insects"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0294034.ref037","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"119","DOI":"10.1093\/aesa\/saaa047","article-title":"Interactions among native and non-native predatory Coccinellidae influence biological control and biodiversity","volume":"114","author":"H Li","year":"2021","journal-title":"Annals of the Entomological Society of America"},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0294034.ref038","first-page":"484","article-title":"Predatorty potential of two aphidophagous coccinellids, Chilomenus sexmaculata Fabricus and Coccinella transversalis Fabricus on two aphid hosts Aphis craccivora Koch and Aphis gossypii glover","volume":"SP-10","author":"T Vasista","year":"2021","journal-title":"The Pharma Innovation Journal"},{"key":"pone.0294034.ref039","first-page":"83","author":"VK Wanasinghe","year":"2022","journal-title":"Biological Control of Sugarcane Pests in Sri Lanka: Current Status and Future Prospects"},{"key":"pone.0294034.ref040","first-page":"27","article-title":"Diversity and distribution of ladybird beetles (Coccinellidae) in the cropland of Faisalabad district","volume":"1","author":"MN Abbas","year":"2013","journal-title":"International journal of advanced research"},{"key":"pone.0294034.ref041","article-title":"Coccinellidae beetles (Coleoptera) fauna of district Layyah (Punjab), Pakistan","volume":"1","author":"MA Bodlah","year":"2021","journal-title":"Asian Journal of Agriculture and Biology"},{"key":"pone.0294034.ref042","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1755","DOI":"10.18520\/cs\/v113\/i09\/1755-1759","article-title":"Molecular characterization of ladybird predators (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) of aphid pests (Homoptera: Aphididae) in North East India","volume":"10","author":"S Ghosh","year":"2017","journal-title":"Current Science"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0294034.ref043","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"307","DOI":"10.1080\/00305316.2002.10417335","article-title":"An annotated checklist of the Coccinellidae (Coleoptera)(excluding Epilachninae) of the Indian subregion","volume":"36","author":"J. Poorani","year":"2002","journal-title":"Oriental Insects"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0294034.ref044","first-page":"10","article-title":"Molecular taxonomic identification of predatory ladybird beetles inferred from COI Sequences (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae)","volume":"4","author":"P Poolprasert","year":"2019","journal-title":"Malaysian Journal of Applied Sciences"}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0294034","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,27]],"date-time":"2023-12-27T18:21:54Z","timestamp":1703701314000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0294034"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Muhammad","family":"Arif","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"editor","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,27]]},"references-count":44,"journal-issue":{"issue":"12","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,27]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0294034","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"1932-6203"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,27]]}}}