CYP6AE gene cluster knockout in Helicoverpa armigera reveals role in detoxification of phytochemicals and insecticides

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 4820 - 8
• Main Authors: Wang, Huidong, Shi, Yu, Wang, Lu, Liu, Shuai, Wu, Shuwen, Yang, Yihua, Feyereisen, René, Wu, Yidong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 16.11.2018; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 45/70; 631/158/2452; 631/601/1466; 82/80; Agricultural ecosystems; Agricultural management; Animals; Base Sequence; Cotton; CRISPR; CRISPR-Associated Protein 9 - genetics; CRISPR-Associated Protein 9 - metabolism; CRISPR-Cas Systems; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System - deficiency; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System - genetics; Detoxification; Embryo, Nonmammalian; Female; Gene Editing - methods; Gene Expression; Genes; Genetics; Genome editing; Genome, Insect; Genomes; Helicoverpa armigera; Host plants; Humanities and Social Sciences; Inactivation, Metabolic - genetics; Insect Proteins - deficiency; Insect Proteins - genetics; Insecticide resistance; Insecticide Resistance - genetics; Insecticides; Insecticides - metabolism; Insecticides - pharmacology; Insects; Larva - drug effects; Larva - enzymology; Larva - genetics; Larva - growth & development; Lethal Dose 50; Male; Metabolism; Moths - drug effects; Moths - enzymology; Moths - genetics; Moths - growth & development; multidisciplinary; Multigene Family; Mutation; Organic chemistry; Pesticide resistance; Pests; Phytochemicals; Reverse Genetics; RNA, Guide, CRISPR-Cas Systems - genetics; RNA, Guide, CRISPR-Cas Systems - metabolism; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Survival; Toxins; Xenobiotics
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07226-6
• ISSN: 2041-1723

The cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera , is one of the world’s major pest of agriculture, feeding on over 300 hosts in 68 plant families. Resistance cases to most insecticide classes have been reported for this insect. Management of this pest in agroecosystems relies on a better understanding of how it copes with phytochemical or synthetic toxins. We have used genome editing to knock out a cluster of nine P450 genes and show that this significantly reduces the survival rate of the insect when exposed to two classes of host plant chemicals and two classes of insecticides. Functional expression of all members of this gene cluster identified the P450 enzymes capable of metabolism of these xenobiotics. The CRISPR-Cas9-based reverse genetics approach in conjunction with in vitro metabolism can rapidly identify the contributions of insect P450s in xenobiotic detoxification and serve to identify candidate genes for insecticide resistance. Cotton bollworm is an important agricultural pest with widespread resistance to insecticides. Here Wang et al . identifies CYP6AEs from cotton bollworm involved in detoxifying plant toxins and chemical insecticides through the CRISPR-Cas9-based reverse genetics approach in conjunction with in vitro metabolism.