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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » Corn Insects and Crop Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #313122
Title: The mitochondrial genome of the western bean cutworm, Striacosta albicosta (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Author
item Coates, Brad
item Abel, Craig

Submitted to: Mitochondrial DNA
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/18/2016
Publication Date: 7/10/2016
Citation: Coates, B.S., Abel, C.A. 2016. The mitochondrial genome of the western bean cutworm, Striacosta albicosta (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Mitochondrial DNA. 1(1):487-488. doi: 10.1080/23802359.2016.1192499.

Interpretive Summary: The western bean cutworm is a pest of cultivated corn and dry beans and causes economically-significant damage in its endemic range of west-central Nebraska and Kansas, as well as newly inhabited areas around the Great Lakes region of Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. Genetic variation and movement of this insect affects control tactics and resistance management strategies, but studies into these biological aspects remain incomplete. Changes in the mitochodrial DNA of a species has been used to estimate genetic variation and female movement in insect populations. As an initial step, ARS scientists successfully sequence and assembled the complete mitochondrial genome from the western bean cutworm. This data will form the foundation for future genetic studies of this pest insect species.

Technical Abstract: The complete 15,553 bp mitochondrial genome of the western bean cutworm, Stricosta albicosta, (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) was assembled from next generation sequencing data. Annotation showed that 13 predicted protein coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNAs, and 2 rRNAs have an order and orientation typical of insect mitochondrial genomes, and the derived rearrangement of tRNA-Met, -Ile, and -Gln upstream of nad2 is also observed an most Lepidoptera. A 79.3% A+T content resulted in a bias for codons with A or T in the 3rd position, and prevalence of synonymous substitutions suggest the effects of purifying selection on the mitochondrial genome sequence. Two microsatellite repeat motifs, (CA)10(AT)19 and (AT)12, are respectively located in intergenic spaces between tRNA-Glu and -Phe and tRNA-Leu and 16S rRNA, and two larger repeat motifs were detected in the A+T-rich control region.