Experimental population genetics in insects: inheritance of ISSR-PCR bands in an artificial population

Inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR)-PCR fingerprints are being increasingly used to establish relationships between closely related animals, although their inheritance patterns have not been examined closely as yet. To better understand the genetics of this relatively novel genomic fingerprint technique and to assess the tokogenetic information content of the data for the Hyles euphorbiae (Linnaeus, 1758) complex (HEC; Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) precisely, we examined five separated pairs of moths of Hyles euphorbiae from Spain (10 moths) and their offspring as an artificial population. ISSR-PCR fingerprints were obtained with four primers and the 0/1 matrix analysed. The cluster algorithm Neighbour Joining was successful in reconstructing the families as monophyletic, although intra-familial cluster formation cannot be represented by a dichotomous branching pattern. In contrast, the band sharing index did not detect significant differences in variability between siblings and individuals of H. euphorbiae from different localities compared at random. Rather high levels of recombination were detected, which surprisingly did not appear to obscure the tokogenetic signal to a significant degree. Thus ISSR-PCR fingerprints appear to be appropriate markers to study relationships between HEC individuals of two consecutive generations, while being too variable for higher levels.