Shaokun Guo

Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) is a globally significant quarantine pest, and broflanilide represents a new insecticide with potential for its management. However, the molecular responses of B. dorsalis to broflanilide, particularly the involvement of cytochrome P450 genes, remain poorly understood. To address this gap, we compared the midgut and fat body transcriptomes of adults that survived 24 h of exposure to the median lethal concentration (LC₅₀) of broflanilide with those of corresponding controls. Candidate P450 genes were further examined by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), RNA interference (RNAi), and molecular docking. RNA-seq identified strong upregulation of CYP6G8 (log₂FC = 11.84 and 6.32) and CYP6GX5 (log₂FC = 6.48 and 7.83) in the broflanilide-exposed surviving group. qRT-PCR showed that CYP6G8 was significantly upregulated in both tissues, whereas CYP6GX5 was significantly upregulated in the fat body but showed a nonsignificant upward trend in the midgut. Silencing CYP6G8 increased mortality from 43.21% to 64.14%, and CYP6GX5 silencing increased mortality from 31.11% to 87.07% following broflanilide exposure. Docking analyses predicted possible interactions between both proteins and desmethyl-broflanilide (DM-8007), the active metabolite of broflanilide. These results identify CYP6G8 and CYP6GX5 as candidate P450 genes associated with broflanilide tolerance under the tested conditions, although their direct biochemical roles remain to be determined.

BACKGROUND: The oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel) (Diptera: Tephritidae), is a destructive pest in the global fruit and vegetable industry. Current management relies heavily on synthetic chemical insecticides, which leads to resistance and environmental risks. Entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) are regarded as promising alternatives to chemical pesticides, but their use against B. dorsalis is constrained by stage‐dependent efficacy and poor UV persistence. RESULTS: Twelve fungal isolates were screened against mature larvae, pupae and adults of B. dorsalis . Metarhizium guizhouense WN_M2 showed the most consistent virulence across the three stages, with corrected mortality of 70.2%, 43.6% and 100%, respectively. Three lead isolates, M. guizhouense WN_M1 and WN_M2 and Beauveria bassiana DF_B1, were selected for binary combination assays. Binary combinations enhanced efficacy against subterranean stages. At 1 × 10 ⁸ conidia mL ⁻¹ , DF_B1 + WN_M2 caused 92.86% corrected mortality in mature larvae and 75.31% in pupae. Among the UV‐protective additives tested, potassium humate (HA‐K) was the most effective, maintaining 86.9% conidial germination at 24 h after 6 h UV‐B exposure, compared with 34.6% in the unprotected UV‐B control. HA‐K also helped preserve fungal pathogenicity against adults under UV‐B stress. CONCLUSION: Binary combinations enhanced fungal virulence against subterranean stages, and HA‐K improved conidial UV tolerance. These findings provide a promising basis for the further development of fungal biocontrol strategies to sustainably manage this pest. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.

BACKGROUND: Zeugodacus tau (Walker), a globally significant quarantine pest, jeopardizes fruit and vegetable production through direct crop damage and trade restrictions. The implementation of effective quarantine management measures constitutes a critical component in mitigating biosecurity risks associated with pest proliferation. Integrated low temperature and modified atmosphere treatment has emerged as an environmentally sustainable approach, demonstrating significant efficacy against Zeugodacus tau infestations while providing sustainable phytosanitary solutions for postharvest management. RESULT: This study examined the effects of low‐temperature treatments (2 °C/5 °C/8 °C) and combined low temperature and modified atmosphere (2 °C, 5 °C, 8 °C, and 3% oxygen (O ₂ )) on third‐instar larvae, the most resilient developmental stage of Zeugodacus tau . The 8 °C + 3% O ₂ treatment induced significantly higher mortality (10‐day exposure) than temperature‐only conditions, highlighting its potential for postharvest pest management. Transcriptomic analysis revealed two key tolerance‐associated genes, aminopeptidases EY ( EY ) and UTP‐glucuronosyltransferase ( UGT ), with RNA interference of key genes amplifying mortality by 60–80%, confirming their critical role in survival under dual stress. CONCLUSION: This study data systematically demonstrated that third‐instar larvae were the most tolerant life stage under all treatments and then identified two key tolerance genes associated to stress adaptation. These dual findings significantly advance integrated pest management (IPM) strategies by integrating physicochemical approaches with molecular insights, offering actionable strategies to mitigate Zeugodacus tau infestations in agricultural supply chains, and supporting the safe global trade of fresh produce and national biosecurity frameworks. © 2025 Society of Chemical Industry.

Maize lethal necrosis is attributed to the accumulation of maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV), an invasive virus transmitted by insect vectors. The western flower thrips (WFT) can shift host to maize, thus promoting the spread of MCMV. However, our understanding of the characteristics and interactions involved in the transmission of MCMV is still limited. This study finds that non-viruliferous WFTs showed a 57.56% higher preference for MCMV-infected maize plants compared to healthy maize plants, while viruliferous WFTs showed a 53.70% higher preference for healthy maize plants compared to MCMV-infected maize plants. We also show for the first time that both adults and larvae of WFT could successfully acquire MCMV after 1 min of acquisition access period (AAP), and after 48 h of AAP, WFT could transmit MCMV in an inoculation access period of 1 h without a latent period. Both adults and larvae of WFT can transmit MCMV for up to 2 days. Furthermore, the decreasing number of viruliferous WFTs and transmission rates as time progressed, together with the transcriptomic evidence, collectively suggest that WFTs transmit MCMV in a semi-persistent method, a mode of transmission requiring minutes to several hours for acquisition access and having a retention time of several hours to a few days. Additionally, β-myrcene can attract WFTs significantly and is detected in Nicotiana benthamiana plants transiently expressing MCMV CP (coat protein), which is consistent with results in MCMV-infected maize plants through the metabolomic profiling and the preference analyses of WFT. Therefore, this study demonstrates the indirect interaction between MCMV and WFT by inducing maize to synthesize β-myrcene to attract insect vectors. The exploration of specific interactions between MCMV and WFT could help to expand the mechanism studies of virus–vector–host plant interaction and put forward a new insight for the combined control of MCMV and WFT through the manipulation of plant volatiles and key insect genes.

Among over 2,000 species of mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae), only 13 genomes have been published so far, seriously limiting the researches on the phylogeny and adaptive evolution of this group. The continuous publication of mealybug genomes will significantly facilitate our exploration of the biological characteristics, detrimental attributes, and control strategies of the Pseudococcidae family. Jack Beardsley mealybug (Pseudococcus jackbeardsleyi) as one of the hazardous invasive pests, it could cause enormous losses to the fruit and vegetable industries worldwide. Herein, we combined Nanopore long-read, short-read Illumina and Hi-C sequencing, generating a high-quality chromosome-level genome assembly of P. jackbeardsleyi. The genome size was determined to be 334.818 Mb, which was assembled into 5 linkage groups with a N50 of 67.233 Mb. The BUSCO analysis demonstrated the completeness of the genome assembly and annotation are 95.7% and 92.8%, respectively. The developed high-quality genome will serve as an asset for delving into the genetic mechanisms underlying the invasiveness of P. jackbeardsleyi, thereby offering a crucial theoretical foundation for the prevention and management of Pseudococcidae pests.

Tephritidae pests are significant agricultural pests with a notable impact on the economy, with a wide range of species and most having broad host ranges and strong reproductive abilities. However, the wolfberry fruit fly, Neoceratitis asiatica (Becker), is a Tephritidae fly which only harms wolfberry. Here, we assembled and annotated N. asiatica genome at the chromosome level and compared it with the genomic and transcriptomic information from other Tephritidae flies. The assembled genome of N. asiatica had a size of 563.8 Mb and achieved a completeness level of 99.1%, 18,387 genes were annotated totally. All contigs were assembled into 7 linkage groups with an N50 of 93.166 Mb assisted by the Hi-C technique. The high-quality genome developed here will provide a significant resource for exploring the genetic basis of the adaptive and reproductive differences among various Tephritidae pests, and provides an important theoretical basis for the prevention and control of Tephritidae pests.

Organosilicone molecules represent important components of surfactants added to pesticides to improve pest control efficiency, but these molecules also have pesticidal properties in their own right. Here, we examined toxicity and control efficacy of Silwet 408, a trisiloxane ethoxylate-based surfactant, to the two-spotted spider mite (TSSM), Tetranychus urticae and its crop hosts. Silwet 408 was toxic to nymphs and adults of TSSM but did not affect eggs. Field trials showed that the control efficacy of 1000 mg/L Silwet 408 aqueous solution reached 96% one day after spraying but declined to 54% 14 days after spraying, comparable to 100 mg/L cyetpyrafen, a novel acaricide. A second spraying of 1000 mg/L Silwet 408 maintained control efficacy at 97% when measured 14 days after spraying. However, Silwet 408 was phytotoxic to eggplant, kidney bean, cucumber, and strawberry plants, although phytotoxicity to strawberry plants was relatively low and declined further seven days after application. Our study showed that while the organosilicone surfactant Silwet 408 could be used to control the TSSM, its phytotoxicity to crops should be considered.

The peach fruit moth (PFM), Carposina sasakii Matsumura, is a major phytophagous orchard pest widely distributed across Northeast Asia. Here, we report the chromosome‐level genome for the PFM, representing the first genome for the family Carposinidae, from the lepidopteran superfamily Copromorphoidea. The genome was assembled into 404.83 Mb sequences using PacBio long‐read and Illumina short‐read sequences, including 275 contigs, with a contig N50 length of 2.62 Mb. All contigs were assembled into 31 linkage groups assisted by the Hi‐C technique, including 30 autosomes and a Z chromosome. BUSCO analysis showed that 98.3% of genes were complete and 0.4% of genes were fragmented, while 1.3% of genes were missing in the assembled genome. In total, 21,697 protein‐coding genes were predicted, of which 84.80% were functionally annotated. Because of the importance of diapause triggered by photoperiod in PFM, five circadian genes in the PFM as well as in the other related species were annotated, and potential genes related to diapause and photoperiodic reaction were also identified from transcriptome sequencing. In addition, manual annotation of detoxification gene families was undertaken and showed a higher number of glutathione S‐transferase (GST) gene in PFM than in most other lepidopterans, in contrast to a lower number of uridine diphosphate (UDP)‐glycosyltransferase (UGT) gene, carboxyl/cholinesterases (CCE) gene and cytochrome P450 monooxygenase (P450) gene, suggesting different detoxication pathways in this moth. The high‐quality genome provides a resource for comparative evolutionary studies of this moth and its relatives within the context of radiations across Lepidoptera.

Moths of the family Tortricidae (Insecta: Lepidoptera) usually distribute in temperate and tropical high upland regions. The oriental fruit moth (OFM) Grapholita molesta is a globally important pest of stone and pome fruit from this family. In this study, we assembled a chromosome-level genome for the OFM and conducted a comparative genomic analysis with other lepidopterans. This genome was assembled to 28 chromosomes with a size of 517.71 Mb, an N50 of 19.5 Mb, and a BUSCO completeness of 97.1%. In total, 19968 protein-coding genes were predicted, among which 15269 were functionally annotated. We manually annotated ten gene families for 13 representative genomes from the Lepidopteran. In general, two tortricid moths have a moderate number of detoxification and receptor genes and the lowest number of HSP genes, congruent with their polyphagous dietary and pattern of distribution. However, the OFM has the highest number of P450, I Rs and ORs among all species. Compared to the other tortricid species of the codling moth Cydia pomonella , the OFM has more genes in all gene families. Our results indicate that the high number of some detoxification and receptor genes may be related to the strong adaptation of OFM as a global pest. The high-quality genome of OFM provides an invaluable resource for understanding the ecology, genetics, and evolution of tortricid moths.