Campus Units

Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology

Document Type

Article

Publication Version

Published Version

Publication Date

7-22-2020

Journal or Book Title

Insects

Volume

11

Issue

8

First Page

462

DOI

10.3390/insects11080462

Abstract

Biological control—the use of organisms (e.g., nematodes, arthropods, bacteria, fungi, viruses) for the suppression of insect pest species—is a well-established, ecologically sound and economically profitable tactic for crop protection. This approach has served as a sustainable solution for many insect pest problems for over a century in North America. However, all pest management tactics have associated risks. Specifically, the ecological non-target effects of biological control have been examined in numerous systems. In contrast, the need to understand the short- and long-term evolutionary consequences of human-mediated manipulation of biological control organisms for importation, augmentation and conservation biological control has only recently been acknowledged. Particularly, population genomics presents exceptional opportunities to study adaptive evolution and invasiveness of pests and biological control organisms. Population genomics also provides insights into (1) long-term biological consequences of releases, (2) the ecological success and sustainability of this pest management tactic and (3) non-target effects on native species, populations and ecosystems. Recent advances in genomic sequencing technology and model-based statistical methods to analyze population-scale genomic data provide a much needed impetus for biological control programs to benefit by incorporating a consideration of evolutionary consequences. Here, we review current technology and methods in population genomics and their applications to biological control and include basic guidelines for biological control researchers for implementing genomic technology and statistical modeling.

Comments

This article is published as Sethuraman, Arun, Fredric J. Janzen, David W. Weisrock, and John J. Obrycki. "Insights from Population Genomics to Enhance and Sustain Biological Control of Insect Pests." Insects 11, no. 8 (2020): 462. doi: 10.3390/insects11080462.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Copyright Owner

The Authors

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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