Functional validation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) α6 as a target of spinosyns in Spodoptera exigua utilizing the CRISPR/Cas9 system.

BACKGROUND

The beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua, is a serious agricultural pest that is primarily controlled using chemical insecticides. Recently, resistance to the insecticide spinosad has been described in S. exigua field populations. To date, there has been no functional evidence proving the involvement of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) α6 mutation in spinosad resistance in S. exigua.

RESULTS

In this study, using the CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing system, a homozygous strain (Seα6-KO) with approximately 1760-bp deletion within Seα6 in S. exigua causing a premature truncation of Seα6 was successfully constructed. Insecticide bioassays showed that Seα6-KO exhibited 373-fold higher resistance to spinosad and 850-fold higher resistance to spinetoram compared to WH-S strain with the same genetic background but showed no significant change in susceptibility to emamectin benzoate and chlorantraniliprole. Genetic analysis revealed that Seα6-KO is inherited as an incompletely recessive trait.

CONCLUSION

The results clearly demonstrated the functional role of Seα6 in resistance to spinosyn insecticides and provide an example of using genome editing to verify a target premature truncation associated with resistance.