Genome-wide Analysis of Developmental Stage-specific Transcriptome in Spodoptera litura for the Identification of Effective Control Method

Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is an important pest across a wide range of cropping industries. Due to increasing chemical resistance being displayed by this pest, the majority of conventional pesticides are now ineffective in controlling its populations. Therefore, it is essential that new target sites are identified to aid in the development of novel and efficient pest management strategies. To obtain a comprehensive understanding of transcription regulation in S. litura at various developmental stages, we created 33 libraries that comprised three replicates of nine development stages and two genders. The results of differentially expressed transcripts showed a wide difference within S. litura during its developmental process, and some genes were specifically expressed in certain developmental stages. To understand the function of gene expression at different developmental stages, all DEGs were mapped in the GO and KEGG databases. The results showed that the DEGs produced in the comparison between male pupae (MP) and sixth-instar larvae (L6) had the most abundant GO enrichment, followed by comparison of female pupae vs L6 and first-instar larvae (L1) vs eggs (E); L1 vs E had the most abundant enrichment with up-regulation in KEGG database, followed by the fifth instar larvae vs forth-instar larvae (L4); L4 vs third-instar larvae (L3) had the least abundant enrichment in the 10 comparative groups, followed by L3 vs second-instar larvae. This study analyzed the genetic variation within S. litura during its developmental process, to potentially identify an appropriate life stage at which control methods could be deployed to disrupt its development.