The tobacco cutworm, Spodoptera litura, is among the most widespread and destructive agricultural pests, feeding on over 100 crops throughout tropical and subtropical Asia. By genome sequencing, physical mapping and transcriptome analysis, we found that the gene families encoding receptors for bitter or toxic substances and detoxification enzymes, such as cytochrome P450, carboxylesterase and glutathione-S-transferase, were massively expanded in this polyphagous species, enabling its extraordinary ability to detect and detoxify many plant secondary compounds. Larval exposure to insecticidal toxins induced expression of detoxification genes, and knockdown of representative genes using short interfering RNA (siRNA) reduced larval survival, consistent with their contribution to the insect’s natural pesticide tolerance. A population genetics study indicated that this species expanded throughout southeast Asia by migrating along a South India–South China–Japan axis, adapting to wide-ranging ecological conditions with diverse host plants and insecticides, surviving and adapting with the aid of its expanded detoxification systems. The findings of this study will enable the development of new pest management strategies for the control of major agricultural pests such as S. litura.
The SilkDB is an open-access database for genome biology of the silkworm (Bombyx mori). Since the draft sequence was completed and the SilkDB was first released 5 years ago, we have collaborated with other groups to make much remarkable progress on silkworm genome research, such as the completion of a new high-quality assembly of the silkworm genome sequence as well as the construction of a genome-wide microarray to survey gene expression profiles. To accommodate these new genomic data and house more comprehensive genomic information, we have reconstructed SilkDB database with new web interfaces. In the new version (v2.0) of SilkDB, we updated the genomic data, including genome assembly, gene annotation, chromosomal mapping, orthologous relationship and experiment data, such as microarray expression data, Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) and corresponding references. Several new tools, including SilkMap, Silkworm Chromosome Browser (SCB) and BmArray, are developed to access silkworm genomic data conveniently. SilkDB is publicly available at the new URL of http://www.silkdb.org.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.