Miss Nicole Fechner1,2, Dr Kate Muirhead1,2, Dr Michelle Guzik3, Dr Kym Perry1,2

1School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide, Urrbrae, Australia, 2South Australian Research and Development Institute, Urrbrae, Australia, 3School of Biological Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia

Biography:

Nicole is a PhD researcher at the University of Adelaide investigating the genetic diversity and global origins of Mediterranean pest snails in Australia. For the past five years she has worked as a Research Officer at the South Australian Research and Development Institute investigating ecology and management of snails and other invertebrates in agricultural crops.

Abstract:

Since first detection in Australia around 100 years ago, the Mediterranean snails, Theba pisana, Cernuella virgata, Cochlicella acuta, and Cochlicella barbara, have spread throughout southern agricultural zones through passive transport and become major pests of grain crops and pastures. Spread continues to occur, but predicting the potential ecological niche of these snails requires knowledge of their genetic background and geographic invasion origins, which is known for only one of these snails. Moreover, variation in shell morphology among regions raises questions around species identity which is central to management. This study is investigating the invasion history and gene flow patterns of Australian populations of these four snail species using molecular markers and morphological characters. Snail populations are being collected extensively throughout their Australian range, and also their native and other invaded ranges (e.g., Europe, Africa, the USA). Sequenced molecular markers (CO1, 16S, ITS2), will be compared between localities in our collections and from public databases to identify species groups and putative source regions. The potential effect of endosymbionts (Wolbachia, Cardinium) on mtDNA diversity will be investigated through molecular screening, which has been little studied in molluscs. Morphological characteristics of shell structure and reproductive anatomy will be examined to assess morphological variation within and between lineages. A better understanding of the genetic background of the pest snail complex in Australia will inform spread pathways and management of these species in Australian agriculture.