KNOWLEDGE OF THE GENETICS AND MECHANISMS OF PEST RESISTANCE IS URGENTLY NEEDED TO DEVELOP EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES TO SUSTAIN THE EFFICACY OF WIDELY ADOPTED TRANSGENIC BT CROPS, YET THIS INFORMATION IS LACKING FOR HELICOVERPA ZEA (CORN EARWORM, CEW), ONE OF THE MOST ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT CROP PESTS IN THE UNITED STATES. SOME POPULATIONS OF THIS PEST HAVE EVOLVED RESISTANCE TO CRY1 AND CRY2 TOXINS CURRENTLY DEPLOYED IN BT CROPS. TO ADDRESS THIS PROBLEM, WE WILL ACHIEVE THE FOLLOWING OBJECTIVES:1) COMPARE THE GENETIC BASIS OF CRY1AC RESISTANCE BETWEEN LAB- AND FIELD-SELECTED CEW2) IDENTIFY AND TRACK CRY2AB RESISTANCE ALLELES IN FIELD-SELECTED POPULATIONS OF CEW3) DETERMINE IF CRISPR/CAS9 EDITING OF CANDIDATE RESISTANCE GENES CAUSES RESISTANCE.
$454,545FY2020National Institute of Food and AgricultureUSDA
University Of Arizona, Tucson AZ