Gene expression in the presence of beta-cyfluthrin in resistant and susceptible Alphitobius diaperinus populations

The lesser mealworm, Alphitobius diaperinus, is an invasive beetle and a vector of pathogens in soilless poultry farms. The emergence of insecticide resistance in A. diaperinus results in outbreaks that generate significant phytosanitary and energy costs for poultry farmers. A population (RES) especially highly resistant to the beta-cyfluthrin insecticide has been collected from a poultry house in Brittany. This population tolerated insecticide treatments with exposures greater than 100 times the recommended dose. Molecular mechanisms involved in insecticide resistance in the resistant population upon exposure to beta-cyfluthrin were studied by a de novo assembled and annotated transcriptome using RNA-seq technology. Three insects from the insecticide-susceptible population (SENS) or insecticide-resistant population (RES) constituting a sample, three samples (three independent biological replicates) were collected after 24 h of each exposure: control condition, four-fold the recommended dose (4RD) or hundred-fold the recommended dose (100RD). 100RD exposure was only applied to the RES population.