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- Title
Comparative molecular analyses of invasive fall armyworm in Togo reveal strong similarities to populations from the eastern United States and the Greater Antilles.
- Authors
Nagoshi, Rodney N.; Koffi, Djima; Agboka, Komi; Tounou, Kodjo Agbeko; Banerjee, Rahul; Jurat-Fuentes, Juan Luis; Meagher, Robert L.
- Abstract
The fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda, J.E. Smith) is a noctuid moth that is a major and ubiquitous agricultural pest in the Western Hemisphere. Infestations have recently been identified in several locations in Africa, indicating its establishment in the Eastern Hemisphere where it poses an immediate and significant economic threat. Genetic methods were used to characterize noctuid specimens infesting multiple cornfields in the African nation of Togo that were tentatively identified as fall armyworm by morphological criteria. Species identification was confirmed by DNA barcoding and the specimens were found to be primarily of the subgroup that preferentially infests corn and sorghum in the Western Hemisphere. The mitochondrial haplotype configuration was most similar to that found in the Caribbean region and the eastern coast of the United States, identifying these populations as the likely originating source of the Togo infestations. A genetic marker linked with resistance to the Cry1Fa toxin from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) expressed in transgenic corn and common in Puerto Rico fall armyworm populations was not found in the Togo collections. These observations demonstrate the usefulness of genetic surveys to characterize fall armyworm populations from Africa.
- Subjects
GREATER Antilles; UNITED States; FALL armyworm; INSECT morphology; COMPARATIVE studies; CLASSIFICATION of insects
- Publication
PLoS ONE, 2017, Vol 12, Issue 7, p1
- ISSN
1932-6203
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0181982