Polygenic response to selection by transgenic Bt-expressing crops in wild Helicoverpa zea and characterization of a major effect locus.

ABSTRACT: Strong and shifting selective pressures of the Anthropocene are rapidly shaping phenomes and genomes of organisms worldwide. Crops expressing pesticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) represent one major selective force on insect genomes. Here we characterize a rapid response to selection by Bt crops in a major crop pest, Helicoverpa zea. We reveal the polygenic architecture of Bt resistance evolution in H. zea and identify multiple genomic regions underlying this trait. In the genomic region of largest effect, we identified a gene amplification event, where resistant individuals showed variation in copy number for multiple genes. Signals of this amplification increased over time, consistent with the history of field-evolved Bt resistance evolution. Modern wild populations from

SUBMITTER: Taylor KL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11670386 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature