Food source affects the expression of vitellogenin and fecundity of a biological control agent, Neoseiulus cucumeris

Neoseiulus cucumeris (Oudemans) (Acari: Phytoseiidae) is one of the most widely used and important biological control agents for thrips and other small pests worldwide. In the present study, we cloned two cDNAs of vitellogenins (Vgs, NcVg1 and NcVg2) and analyzed the effect of food source on the expression of both Vgs and fecundity in female adults. NcVgs showed higher sequence similarity to Vgs from Parasitiformes. Both neighbor-joining and maximum likelihood methods for phylogenetic analysis of NcVgs yielded similar topologies and showed that the Parasitiformes except Haemaphysalis longicornis segregated into a single clade that was separated into two subclades including one of both Vgs from N. cucumeris. Both transcripts, NcVg1 and NcVg2 revealed similar trends during developmental periods and reached the maximum level at the pre-oviposition period. When fed with different food sources, both NcVg1 and NcVg2 of female adults demonstrated a significant difference (P < 0.05) during the pre-oviposition period. Meanwhile, a positive correlation between the expression of Vgs and fecundity was observed. Therefore, the nutrients provided by the food sources affected fecundity resulting in differential expression of Vgs. Vitellogenin expression can be used as a molecular marker of fecundity of N. cucumeris.