福建农林大学1月11日宣布，该校副校长尤民生教授带领的科研团队在全球首次破译世界性害虫小菜蛾基因组。此举奠定了中国在小菜蛾基因组研究领域的国际领先地位，并将为农业害虫的可持续控制提供新的研究思路。
由尤民生教授主持、深圳华大基因研究院共同完成、英国剑桥大学等参与的小菜蛾基因组研究成果“小菜蛾杂合基因组揭示昆虫的植食性和解毒能力”，将于1月13日在国际权威学术刊物《自然—遗传学》上在线发表。该论文将在全世界首次公布鳞翅目昆虫原始类型基因组，这也是在全世界第一次公布世界性鳞翅目害虫的基因组。
小菜蛾又名小青虫、两头尖、吊丝虫等，属鳞翅目菜蛾科，是主要危害白菜、油菜、花椰菜、甘蓝、芥蓝、芥菜、榨菜、萝卜等十字花科蔬菜的一种重要的寡食性害虫，被认为是分布最广泛的世界性害虫。由于其发生世代多、繁殖能力强、寄主范围广、抗药性水平高，给防治工作带来极大的困难，在东南亚部分地区可造成90%以上的蔬菜产量损失，给蔬菜生产和餐桌安全造成严重影响，全世界每年因小菜蛾造成的损失和防治费用超过40亿美元。
福建农林大学发布的新闻稿称，小菜蛾基因组的破译宣告世界上首个鳞翅目昆虫原始类型基因组的完成，同时也是第一个世界性鳞翅目害虫的基因组。该成果对于揭示小菜蛾与十字花科植物协同进化及其抗药性的适应进化与治理等均具有重要的科学价值，同时也为鳞翅目昆虫的进化和比较基因组学研究提供宝贵的数据资源。
A heterozygous moth genome provides insights into herbivory and detoxification
Minsheng You Zhen Yue Weiyi He Xinhua Yang Guang Yang Miao Xie Dongliang Zhan Simon W Baxter Liette Vasseur Geoff M Gurr Carl J Douglas Jianlin Bai Ping Wang Kai Cui Shiguo Huang Xianchun Li Qing Zhou Zhangyan Wu Qilin Chen Chunhui Liu Bo Wang Xiaojing Li Xiufeng Xu Changxin Lu Min Hu John W Davey Sandy M Smith Mingshun Chen Xiaofeng Xia Weiqi Tang Fushi Ke Dandan Zheng Yulan Hu Fengqin Song Yanchun You Xiaoli Ma Lu Peng Yunkai Zheng Yong Liang Yaqiong Chen Liying Yu Younan Zhang Yuanyuan Liu Guoqing Li Lin Fang Jingxiang Li Xin Zhou Yadan Luo Caiyun Gou Junyi Wang Jian Wang Huanming Yang Jun Wang
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 plants1, but the genetic and molecular bases for adaptation to plant defense compounds remain poorly understood2. 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.
文献链接： A heterozygous moth genome provides insights into herbivory and detoxification
