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Submitted to: IWGO Newsletter
Publication Type: Research Notes Publication Acceptance Date: 9/2/2010 Publication Date: 11/30/2011 Citation: Sappington, T.W. 2011. Developing genomics tools for the western corn rootworm - Progress and promise. IWGO Newsletter. 31(1):8-12. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Cooperative efforts among a number of interested scientists and institutions in the U.S. and Europe are being undertaken to expand genomics resources for the western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera). Such resources include development of hundreds of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers for a genetic linkage map and population genetics applications, generation and maintenance of an inbred line, targeted sequencing of Bacterial Artificial Chromosomes (BACs) to obtain information on genome structure as well as the full sequence of particular genes of interest, and development of a community web site to house and display sequence data as it is generated. Current initiatives include proposals for large-scale Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) sequencing - to obtain a nearly complete transcriptome and expression profiles of genes related to behavior, digestion of plant tissue, and adaptations to human management practices - and a project to sequence the genome followed by RNA seq experiments to identify genes involved in successful rootworm attack of maize roots and roots of Miscanthus, a potential biofuel crop. The projects are ambitious and possible only because of the coordinated international efforts of members of the Diabrotica Genetics Consortium, IWGO (International Working Group on Ostrinia and other Maize Pests), and the NCCC-46 technical committee (Development, Optimization, and Delivery of Management Strategies for Corn Rootworms and Other Below-ground Insect Pests of Maize). |
