Location: Integrated Cropping Systems Research
Project Number: 3080-21220-008-005-I
Project Type: Interagency Reimbursable Agreement
Start Date: Oct 1, 2022
End Date: Jun 15, 2025
Objective:
The long-term goal is to better understand why Asiatic garden beetle populations are infesting field corn in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio, and not elsewhere in its geographic range in North America. The objectives are to identify molecular markers, or single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), for Asiatic garden beetle from ddRAD sequencing, then use the resulting SNPs to compare genetic structure among North American populations. I hypothesize that Asiatic garden beetle populations from Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio field corn will comprise a unique genetic population relative to the rest of North America.
Approach:
I have completed ddRAD sequencing of Asiatic garden beetle populations and have identified SNPs with the bioinformatics program AftrRAD. I am currently identifying a panel of candidate SNPs that will be used to compare genetic structure of Asiatic garden beetle populations in North America with the program adegenet. Approximately 96 SNPs will be selected based on their Fst values, and primers will be designed to target the SNPs with sequencing. I will perform library preparation on the Fluidigm Access Array and sequence the SNPs from 11 Asiatic garden beetle populations (10 specimens per population) sampled by collaborators throughout North America with the Illumina MiSeq. Finally, I will compare the resulting sequences to determine whether Great Lakes populations are genetically distinct.
