Scientists have uncovered the secrets of success of Colorado beetles

2018-02-01 20:43

Scientists have uncovered the secrets of success of Colorado beetles
The first attempt to destroy the Colorado potato beetle using pesticides ended in failure – the bugs quickly adapt to poison.

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Genetics from the United States for the first time have deciphered the DNA of Colorado beetles and identified some genes that are responsible for unusually rapid insect adaptation to the new climate and environment, reports Rus.Media.

This is stated in an article published in the journal Scientific Reports.

“Interestingly, we failed to find significant differences in the structure of genes responsible for resistance to insecticides among koloradskimi beetles and other insects. It seems that they have acquired this capacity not by the emergence of new properties or genome rearrangements. All this makes the mystery even more interesting to explore,” says Sean Showell from the University of Wisconsin in Madison.

The first attempt to destroy the Colorado potato beetle using pesticides ended in failure – the bugs quickly adapt to poison.

Soll and his colleagues have taken the first step to understand the reason for this invulnerability bugs. They decoded their DNA and compared the structure of their genome with other insects and harmless insects.

It turned out that DNA of potato pests contains several dozens of genes responsible for the production of a very wide range of enzymes that can digest extremely diverse proteins and sugars. This, according to genetics, allows the beetle to be almost omnivorous, despite its narrow “specialization” on potato and other Solanaceae representatives.

However, geneticists were able to find the “Achilles ‘ heel” of insects: it turned out that their cells are widely used short RNA molecules to block the action of specific genes that can be used to create more efficient versions of the insecticides to which pests adapt not so fast as to DDT and other “killers” of the past.

As noted Shull, now his team is in the process of decoding the DNA of hundreds of Colorado beetles, and several of their relatives whose genomes as scientists hope, will help to uncover other secrets of these pests and finally solve the problem 150 years ago.