Molecular and genetic analysis of resistance to METI-I acaricides in Iranian populations of the citrus red mite Panonychus citri

The citrus red mite, Panonychus citri, is a major pest on citrus all around the world. Mitochondrial Electron Transport Inhibitors of complex I (METI-I) acaricides such as fenpyroximate have been used extensively to control P. citri populations, which resulted in multiple reports of METI-I resistant populations in the field. In this study, gene expression profile differences between METI-I resistant P. citri populations (Lahijan, Ramsar and Sari) and a susceptible P. citri population (Rasht) from Iran were compared using Illumina RNAseq. In total 16 RNA-seq samples (4 populations, 4 biological replicates per population) from Panonychus citri, were generated. RNA was collected from adult P. ctiri females. For each sample, Illumina mRNA-seq libraries were constructed and strand-specific, paired-end 125 bp RNA-seq Illumina reads were generated. The obtained reads were used to quantify gene expresison in each sample.