Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory of Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Key Laboratory of Gene Editing Technologies (Hainan), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen, China.
The State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100193, China.
BMC Biol. 2023 Jan 5;21(1):2. doi: 10.1186/s12915-022-01504-y.
The black cutworm, Agrotis ipsilon, is a serious global underground pest. Its distinct phenotypic traits, especially its polyphagy and ability to migrate long distances, contribute to its widening distribution and increasing difficulty of control. However, knowledge about these traits is still limited.
We generated a high-quality chromosome-level assembly of A. ipsilon using PacBio and Hi-C technology with a contig N50 length of ~ 6.7 Mb. Comparative genomic and transcriptomic analyses showed that detoxification-associated gene families were highly expanded and induced after insects fed on specific host plants. Knockout of genes that encoded two induced ABC transporters using CRISPR/Cas9 significantly reduced larval growth rate, consistent with their contribution to host adaptation. A comparative transcriptomic analysis between tethered-flight moths and migrating moths showed expression changes in the circadian rhythm gene AiCry2 involved in sensing photoperiod variations and may receipt magnetic fields accompanied by MagR and in genes that regulate the juvenile hormone pathway and energy metabolism, all involved in migration processes.
This study provides valuable genomic resources for elucidating the mechanisms involved in moth migration and developing innovative control strategies.
斜纹夜蛾（Agrotis ipsilon）是一种严重的全球性地下害虫。其明显的表型特征，特别是其多食性和远距离迁移能力，导致其分布范围扩大和防治难度增加。然而，关于这些特征的知识仍然有限。
我们使用 PacBio 和 Hi-C 技术生成了高质量的斜纹夜蛾染色体水平组装，其重叠群 N50 长度约为 6.7 Mb。比较基因组和转录组分析表明，解毒相关基因家族在昆虫取食特定宿主植物后高度扩张和诱导。使用 CRISPR/Cas9 敲除编码两种诱导 ABC 转运蛋白的基因显著降低了幼虫的生长速度，这与它们对宿主适应的贡献一致。在系留飞行的飞蛾和迁徙的飞蛾之间进行的比较转录组分析表明，涉及感知光周期变化的生物钟基因 AiCry2 及其可能接收伴随 MagR 的磁场的表达发生变化，以及调节保幼激素途径和能量代谢的基因的表达发生变化，所有这些都与迁徙过程有关。
本研究为阐明飞蛾迁徙的机制和开发创新的控制策略提供了有价值的基因组资源。
