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The structure of the holocentric chromosomes of the rosy apple aphid, Dysaphis plantaginea (2n = 12), and pear-grass aphid, Melanaphis pyraria (2n = 8), was studied using C-banding, NOR, Giemsa and fluorochrome staining, and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). Contrary to the equilocal distribution of heterochromatin typical of monocentric chromosomes, in both species C-banding evidenced a tendency of highly repetitive DNAs to be restricted to the X chromosomes. Silver staining and FISH, using a 28S rDNA probe, located rDNA genes on one telomere of each X chromosome, the only brightly fluorescent C-positive sites revealed by CMA3 staining, whereas all other heterochromatic C-bands were DAPI positive. Both species showed a noticeable amount of rDNA heteromorphism. Mitotic recombination is proposed as a possible mechanism responsible for the variation in size of rDNA.

In this paper we analysed the basis of insecticide resistance in 59 Italian strains of the peach potato aphid Myzus persicae using both molecular and biochemical assays. Our data as a whole clearly indicate that most M. persicae strains (76.3%) have high or extremely high production of an esterase enzyme which sequester and detoxify insecticides with esteric group. Kdr genotypes conferring resistance towards pyrethoids are present in 57.7% of the analysed populations. Moreover, 26.5% of the kdr positive strains possess also the M918T mutation conferring super- kdr phenotype. Strains with modified AChE (MACE) are not so numerous (27.1%), although they can be found almost everywhere in Italy. Considering all the strains analysed, both MACE and kdr phenotypes are associated with high levels of esterase activity. In Central–Southern regions, kdr and MACE resistance mechanisms resulted in linkage disequilibrium. Bioassays performed in order to evaluate the efficacy of a pyrethroid insecticide against a strain possessing a F979S mutation within its para-type sodium channel gene suggests that this amino acid substitution could affect the sodium channel responsivity to pyrethroids.

Chromatin organization in the holocentric chromosomes of the green apple aphid Aphis pomi has been investigated at a cytological level after C-banding, NOR, Giemsa, fluorochrome staining and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). C-banding technique showed that heterochromatic bands are exclusively located on X chromosomes. This data represents a peculiar feature that clearly contradicts the equilocal distribution of heterochromatin typical of monocentric chromosomes. Moreover, silver staining and FISH carried out with a 28S rDNA probe localized rDNA genes on one telomere of each X chromosome; CMA3 staining reveals that these silver positive telomeres are the only GC-rich regions among A. pomi heterochromatin, whereas all other C-positive bands are DAPI positive thus containing AT-rich DNA.

Aphids life cycle includes cyclical or obligate parthenogenesis, therefore low genetic variation is ex- pected in these insects. Genetic diversity in crop pest aphids such as Myzus persicae, is also influenced by the exten- sive use of insecticides which favoured the selection of few resistant strains. In the present work, 18 M. persicae popu- lations collected in different Italian regions, were studied by RAPD-PCR (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA) to assess genetic variability among populations. Twelve different random primers, selected out of 24 previously inves- tigated, were employed for genomic DNA amplification. A total of 150 fragments from the aphid M. persicae popu- lations, and 31 fragments in two outgroups were identified. An UPGMA cluster analysis based on Nei and Li's ge- netic distance revealed that the M. persicae populations could be divided into two groups: aphids from Central and Southern Italy were generally located in the same cluster, while aphids from Northern Italy were more often located in the other. The presence of a positive correlation between genetic and geographical distance suggests that at least a portion of the interpopulation polymorphism evidenced could be caused by restricted gene flow.