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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » Corn Insects and Crop Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #421663
Research Project: Ecologically-based Management of Arthropods in the Maize Agroecosystem

Location: Corn Insects and Crop Genetics Research

Title: The genome sequence of European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner), 1796

Author
item BOYES, DOUGLAS - University Of Oxford
item LEES, DAVID - University Of Oxford
item Coates, Brad

Submitted to: Wellcome Open Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/14/2025
Publication Date: 1/14/2025
Citation: Boyes, D., Lees, D.C., Coates, B.S. 2025. The genome sequence of European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner), 1796. Wellcome Open Research. https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.23504.1.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.23504.1

Interpretive Summary: Feeding by larval European corn borer (ECB) causes damage to corn. This insect pest was previously controlled by planting corn hybrids that express Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) insecticidal proteins, but Bt resistance was recently documented among ECB in the northeast United States. Any spread of Bt resistance into major corn growing regions for the Midwest threatens to reduce yield and grower profits. Strain differences within ECB, such as pheromone production and perception or annual reproductive generations, may reduce gene flow and potential for spread of Bt resistance genes, especially when these differences persist at the same geographic location. An ARS researcher in Ames Iowa, in collaboration with an international team of scientists, developed and assembled the genome sequence of ECB. The resulting ECB genome assembly allowed the team to determine the position and structure of genes across all chromosomes. This ECB genome assembly will be a valuable resource to investigate gene flow among strains of ECB and identify genes responsible for Bt resistance, and will be of interest to government, university and industry scientists.

Technical Abstract: We present a genome assembly from an individual female specimen of Ostrinia nubilalis (European Corn Borer; Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Crambidae). The genome sequence has a total length of 495.50 megabases. Most of the assembly (99.87%) is scaffolded into 32 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the Z and W sex chromosomes. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 15.24 kilobases in length. Gene annotation of this assembly on Ensembl identified 16,780 protein-coding genes.