1. A heterozygous moth genome provides insights into herbivory and detoxification.
- Author
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You M, Yue Z, He W, Yang X, Yang G, Xie M, Zhan D, Baxter SW, Vasseur L, Gurr GM, Douglas CJ, Bai J, Wang P, Cui K, Huang S, Li X, Zhou Q, Wu Z, Chen Q, Liu C, Wang B, Li X, Xu X, Lu C, Hu M, Davey JW, Smith SM, Chen M, Xia X, Tang W, Ke F, Zheng D, Hu Y, Song F, You Y, Ma X, Peng L, Zheng Y, Liang Y, Chen Y, Yu L, Zhang Y, Liu Y, Li G, Fang L, Li J, Zhou X, Luo Y, Gou C, Wang J, Wang J, Yang H, and Wang J
- Subjects
- Animals, Base Sequence, China, Chromosomes, Artificial, Bacterial, Computational Biology, Evolution, Molecular, Expressed Sequence Tags, Female, Gene Expression Profiling, Male, Molecular Sequence Annotation, Molecular Sequence Data, Moths metabolism, Mutation genetics, Pest Control methods, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Sulfatases genetics, Adaptation, Biological genetics, Genetic Variation, Genome genetics, Glucosinolates metabolism, Herbivory genetics, Heterozygote, Moths genetics, Phylogeny
- Abstract
How an insect evolves to become a successful herbivore is of profound biological and practical importance. Herbivores are often adapted to feed on a specific group of evolutionarily and biochemically related host plants, but the genetic and molecular bases for adaptation to plant defense compounds remain poorly understood. We report the first whole-genome sequence of a basal lepidopteran species, Plutella xylostella, which contains 18,071 protein-coding and 1,412 unique genes with an expansion of gene families associated with perception and the detoxification of plant defense compounds. A recent expansion of retrotransposons near detoxification-related genes and a wider system used in the metabolism of plant defense compounds are shown to also be involved in the development of insecticide resistance. This work shows the genetic and molecular bases for the evolutionary success of this worldwide herbivore and offers wider insights into insect adaptation to plant feeding, as well as opening avenues for more sustainable pest management.
- Published
- 2013
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