Molecular Ecology Resources (2020) 20, 1682-1696

Lei Zhang, Bo Liu, Weigang Zheng, Conghui Liu, Dandan Zhang, Shengyuan Zhao, Zaiyuan Li, Pengjun Xu, Kenneth Wilson, Amy Withers, Christopher M. Jones, Judith A. Smith, Gilson Chipabika, Donald L. Kachigamba, Kiwoong Nam, Emmanuelle d'Alençon, Bei Liu, Xinyue Liang, Minghui Jin, Chao Wu, Swapan Chakrabarty, Xianming Yang, Yuying Jiang, Jie Liu, Xiaolin Liu, Weipeng Quan, Guirong Wang, Wei Fan, Wanqiang Qian, Kongming Wu and Yutao Xiao (2020)
Genetic structure and insecticide resistance characteristics of fall armyworm populations invading China
Molecular Ecology Resources 20 (6), 1682-1696
Abstract: The rapid wide-scale spread of fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) has caused serious crop losses globally. However, differences in the genetic background of subpopulations and the mechanisms of rapid adaptation behind the invasion are still not well understood. Here we report the assembly of a 390.38-Mb chromosome-level genome of fall armyworm derived from south-central Africa using Pacific Bioscience (PacBio) and Hi-C sequencing technologies, with scaffold N50 of 12.9 Mb and containing 22,260 annotated protein-coding genes. Genome-wide resequencing of 103 samples and strain identification were conducted to reveal the genetic background of fall armyworm populations in China. Analysis of genes related to pesticide- and Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) resistance showed that the risk of fall armyworm developing resistance to conventional pesticides is very high. Laboratory bioassay results showed that insects invading China carry resistance to organophosphate and pyrethroid pesticides, but are sensitive to genetically modified maize expressing the Bt toxin Cry1Ab in field experiments. Additionally, two mitochondrial fragments were found to be inserted into the nuclear genome, with the insertion event occurring after the differentiation of the two strains. This study represents a valuable advance toward improving management strategies for fall armyworm.
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Database assignments for author(s): Kenneth Wilson

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
pesticide resistance of pest
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
resistance/tolerance/defence of host

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Spodoptera frugiperda		Zambia
Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1A-toxin (entomopathogen)	Spodoptera frugiperda