An outbreak of Deidamia inscriptum (Lettered Sphinx Moth) caterpillars was noted in northeast Tennessee where Oxydendrum arboreum (Sourwood) trees were defoliated. Nearly all published literature and online resources list only plants in the grape family (Vitaceae) as larval food plants. Food-plant preference trials using fresh leaves of 3 woody plant species showed that Deidamiacaterpillars from this region had a preference for Sourwood over Parthenocissus quinquefolia(Virginia Creeper), and rejected Acer rubrum (Red Maple), a non-host species. Ursus americanus(Black Bear) were feeding on the caterpillars as evidenced by bent and broken Sourwood saplings bearing claw marks and by abundant sphingid remains in bear scat.

Orientador: Carlos Frederico Wilcken / Banca: Wilson Badiali Crocomo / Banca: Nádia Cristina de Oliveira / Banca: Edson Luiz Lopes Baldin / Banca: Ronaldo Pavarini / Resumo: A espécie Sarsina violascens (Herrich-Schaeffer, 1856) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) é relatada como praga primária em plantios de eucalipto e teve sua primeira ocorrência registrada em 1975. No período de 2006 a 2009 houve grandes surtos dessa praga, causando desfolhamento intenso em plantios de eucalipto no norte da Bahia. Apesar dos estudos feitos no passado terem considerado espécies de eucalipto, há pouca informação sobre a suscetibilidade de clones híbridos de eucalipto à mariposa violácea. O presente trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar a biologia de S. violascens em diferentes espécies e híbridos de eucalipto e em diferentes temperaturas, além de avaliar a eficiência de entomopatógenos no controle de S. violascens. No experimento 1 a biologia de S. violascens foi determinada nas espécies Eucalyptus grandis, E. urophylla e dois híbridos de E. grandis x E. urophylla ('urograndis'). Os parâmetros avaliados foram duração e viabilidade dos estágios larval, pupal, adulto e de ovo e do ciclo total. No experimento 2 foi selecionada a espécie E. urophylla como padrão e avaliou-se o efeito de diferentes temperaturas (18, 22, 26 e 30oC) no desenvolvimento de S. violascens, avaliando-se os mesmos parâmetros anteriores. Os resultados obtidos no experimento 1 revelaram que E. urophylla ofereceu melhores condições para odesenvolvimento de S. violascens, com maior viabilidade larval (85,3 %), pupal (78,7 %) e de ovos (72,6 %), e menor duração do ciclo total (54,4 dias). A espécie E. grandis foi considerada a menos adequada ao desenvolvimento de S. violascens, revelando baixas viabilidades larval (29,2 %) e pupal (28,9 %). Os resultados obtidos com os dois híbridos foram intermediários comparativamente com as espécies testadas. No experimento 2 as temperaturas de 18, 22 e 26°C foram adequadas para o desenvolvimento e reprodução de S. violascens, com alta viabilidade... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Defoliator lepidopterous are one of the main Eucalyptus pest groups in Brazil. There are records of caterpillars outbreaks since 1940, with important occurrences during 1980's to 1990's. The species Sarsina violascens (Herrich-Schaeffer, 1856) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae), named as violet moth, is related as pest in eucalypts plantations since 1975 and during 2006 to 2009, this species has occurred in outbreaks, causing intense defoliation in eucalypt plantations in Northern Bahia, Brazil. Despite studies in the past have considered species of eucalyptus, there is little information about susceptibility of Eucalyptus hybrid clones to violet moth. This study aimed to determine the biology of S. violascens in different species and hybrids of eucalyptus and in different temperatures. The insects were observed diary to evaluate life cycle in different species of eucalyptus (experiment 1) and in different temperatures (experiment 2). In experiment 1 were tested the following species: Eucalyptus grandis, E. urophylla and two hybrids of E. grandis x E. urophylla ('urograndis'). The parameters evaluated were: duration and viability of larvae, pupae, adult and eggs phases and total life cycle. In experiment 2 was chose the species E. urophylla as standard and evaluated the effect of temperatures of 18, 22, 26 and 30oC, considering the same previous parameters. The results obtained in experiment 1 showed that E. urophylla offered better conditions to S. violascens development and reproduction, due the higher larvae, pupae and eggs viability, and shorter total life cycle duration. The species E. grandis was considered as less adequate to S. violascens development and reproduction, with low larvae and pupae viability. To the two hybrid clones, the results were intermediary comparatively with tested species. In experiment 2 temperature of 18°C showed the most adequate to S. violascens... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Semiochemicals are chemicals used to communicate. Animals tend to use these e.g. to locate food sources or to find a suitable mate. In this study, the sex pheromone of the Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella, was analysed. Since this is an economically important species, it is mass-reared in labs and science centers worldwide for experimental purposes. A culture of these moths was brought into the lab at Lund University for studies and has after that served as a model species demonstrating up-wind pheromone-mediated male flight in different courses held by the university. As years went by, the culture got less successful in up-wind flights, most probably because of inbreeding and bottleneck effects, and therefore, a new culture was taken in. This study focuses on using various experiments to see if there was a behavioral and/or physiological difference between the two cultures. Results show a significant difference in behavioral traits (frequency of calling behavior in females and in male up-wind flights) but not in physiological traits (female pheromone production or male antennal response). This study discusses some effects of mass-reared lab cultures.

Vibrio anguillarum infects many fish species in aquaculture, reducing farm productivity and negatively impacting fish welfare. Deeper understanding of the biology of V. anguillarum, particularly during infections in vivo, will help to improve disease prevention and control. Thus, the aim of this thesis was to provide further insight into the infection biology of V. anguillarum with a view to identifying better ways to reduce the impact of this pathogen in aquaculture. Conventional studies on virulence, particularly those aiming to identify novel virulence factors, often employ transposon mutagenesis where the functions of individual genes in the bacterium are disrupted. These mutant libraries are screened to identify those with attenuated virulence, allowing subsequent identification of the gene responsible. Usually the native fish host would be used but such studies are increasingly difficult to perform due to regulations on vertebrate experiments and ethical concerns. As a result, alternative invertebrate hosts are now an important means to studying microbial infections, but few models have been assessed for bacterial pathogens of fish. In this thesis, larvae of the greater wax moth Galleria mellonella were evaluated as an alternative host to investigate V. anguillarum virulence. Wild-type V. anguillarum isolates killed larvae in a dose-dependent manner, replicated in the haemolymph, and larvae infected with a lethal dose of bacteria could be rescued by antibiotic therapy, thus indicating that V. anguillarum established an infection in G. mellonella. Crucially, virulence of 11 wild-type V. anguillarum isolates correlated significantly between larva and Atlantic salmon infection models, and studies with isogenic mutants knocked out for various virulence determinants revealed conserved roles for some in larva and fish infections, including the pJM1 virulence plasmid and rtxA toxin. Thereafter, 350 strains from a V. anguillarum random transposon insertion library were screened for attenuated virulence in G. mellonella. In total, 12 strains had reduced virulence and in these mutants the transposon had inserted into genes encoding several recognised and putative virulence factors, including a haemolytic toxin (vah1) and proteins involved in iron sequestration (angB/G and angN). Importantly, the transposon in one strain had inserted into an uncharacterised hypothetical protein. Preliminary investigations found this putative novel virulence factor to contain a GlyGly-CTERM sorting domain motif, with sequence similarity to VesB of Vibrio cholerae which is involved in post-translational processing of cholera toxin. Finally, three transposon insertion libraries were mass sequenced on a MiSeq platform to identify V. anguillarum genes lacking transposon insertions. These genes were assumed to be ‘required’ for viability in the conditions under which the mutants were selected, in this case tryptone soya agar. In total, 248 genes lacked a transposon insertion and were the putative ‘required’ genes, and these may be important chemotherapeutic targets for new approaches to combat V. anguillarum infections. This thesis has furthered our understanding of the biology of the important fish pathogen V. anguillarum using an ethically acceptable approach, and the findings may assist with new ways to reduce the burden of this bacterium in aquaculture.

Chez les insectes où les males chantent en chorus, l’interférence locale de signaux impose des contraintes majeures à des femelles qui doivent évaluer les mâles individuellement. Les mâles subis des difficultés pour évaluer la compétitivité de leurs voisins et pour montrer clairement aux femelles les caractéristiques de leurs propres chants. J’ai analysé différents aspects de cette problématique chez deux espèces acoustiques : chez la sauterelle ephippiger et une pyrale nocturne qui émettent leurs signaux au sein de regroupements. Nos expériences ont mis en évidence certains mécanismes comportementaux permettant aux femelles de localiser les meuliers males et d’autres permettant aux mâles de se communiquer efficacement et percevoir leur environnement acoustique. / In acoustic insects where males sing in choruses, local signal interference may present major difficulties for females evaluating and individual males. Males too may be prevented from assessing the competitivity of their neighbors as well as from advertising the characteristics of their own signals to females in a clear manner. Moreover, the background noise from local signals may prevent both sexes from perceiving other sounds in the environment, e.g. predator cues. I studied these problems at several levels in two acoustic insect species: in which males broadcast their advertisement songs while remaining in dense clusters. The experiments revealed behavioral mechanisms with which females can identify favored males and others with which males can communicate effectively.

Insect pests represent major threats to food production, biodiversity conservation, and human and animal health. Currently, the most widespread strategy to control their populations is through the spraying of synthetic chemical insecticides. However, the overuse of these compounds has had significant negative environmental consequences. Additionally, our reliance on insecticides has resulted in major reductions in their efficacy through pest-evolved resistance. To successfully manage insect pests, while avoiding environmental degradation, thus requires the development of novel, more sustainable, pest management strategies. Recent advances in our understanding of recombinant DNA methods and molecular biology have allowed the application of transgenic tools to pest management. Here, synthetic genes can be engineered, transformed into the genomes of pest species, and transported into wild target populations through the natural mating behaviour of the insect. A strategy in which these transgenes are lethal to those insects inheriting them in the field is known as RIDL – Release of Insects carrying a Dominant Lethal. A variant of RIDL limits this lethality to females – female specific RIDL (fsRIDL) – which explicitly targets the reproductive capacity of a target population. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the application of such an fsRIDL strategy to the diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella L.). This economically important pest of brassica crops is highly adept at developing resistance to insecticides and is considered extremely difficult to manage effectively. I present findings which demonstrate the power of diamondback moth lines transformed with fsRIDL transgenes to eliminate target pest populations, and combine synergistically with other transgenic control strategies such as Bt crops in counteracting the evolution of pesticide resistance. Additionally, an exploration into an alternative gene expression system to that used in current RIDL strategies – the Q system – suggests that not all expression systems will be suitable for transgene control within this highly specific framework. It is hoped that this work will contribute towards the effective control of the diamondback moth, and form a model for the sustainable control of other lepidopteran species through genetic pest management.

The diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (Linnaeus 1758.) (Lepidoptera: Plutellidae), is a major insect pest of Brassica crops in many parts of the world leading to economic losses amounting to an estimated US$ 4-5 billion. Although parasitoids (biological control agents) play a major role in suppressing the pest populations during November – May in South Africa, the pest reaches outbreak status during September and October due to low impact of parasitoids, which has necessitated regular application of insecticides. However, insecticide applications have often resulted in the pest developing resistance, and when coupled with the negative effects of several insecticides on parasitoids, integration of the two pest control strategies for effective management of P. xylostella population density has been difficult to achieve. One approach that has received little attention is integration of host plant resistance (bottom-up effect) and biological control (top-down effect) for effective management of P. xylostella. However, the interaction between host plants, the insect pest, and parasitoids is not simple and straight forward, as strong negative impact of host plants on fitness of the insect pest can be cascaded up the food chain and have a negative impact on a given parasitoid, which in turn may reduce the desired complementary effect between the two pest control strategies. To identify optimal interactions between cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata, Brassicaceae), P. xylostella and its larval parasitoid Cotesia vestalis (Haliday 1834) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), this study investigated (i) the effects of seven cabbage cultivars (Empowa, Hollywood F1, Megaton, Leano, Menzania, Beverley Hills and Karabo) on fitness parameters (survival, developmental time, pupal weights, longevity without food and oviposition rates) of P. xylostella; (ii) the influence of the same host plant cultivars on fitness parameters (developmental time, pupal weights, longevity xi without food, fecundity, emergence rate and sex ratio) of C. vestalis. Furthermore, net reproductive rates and the intrinsic rates of natural increase were calculated for C. vestalis that emerged from hosts fed on each of the cultivars. All experiments were conducted in climate-controlled laboratory rooms maintained at 22 ± 1 ºC (mean ± S.D.), 60 ± 5 % RH and 16L: 8D photoperiod. Under the no choice test, overall survival of P. xylostella immature stages was highest on Karabo (67.26%) and lowest on Megaton (44.92%). The larval and pupal developmental period, and generation time was prolonged on Empowa (18.48 days), Karabo (14.64 days) and Beverly Hills (17.48 days), while developmental period on Hollywood F1 (13.79 days) was shortest. Male and female P. xylostella pupal weights were lighter from larvae that fed on Megaton (4.13 and 4.65 mg), Menzania (4.53 and 4.91 mg), and Hollywood F1 (4.11 and 5.08 mg), whereas pupal weights from Karabo (6.0 and 6.82 mg) were the heaviest. Unfed female moths originally reared on Beverley Hills had the highest longevity (5.05 days), whereas those reared on Leano (3.54 days) and Megaton (3.89 days) had the shortest life span. Under the choice-test, P. xylostella moth laid significantly more eggs on Empowa (48.8%) and Hollywood F1 (45.6%) and least on Menzania (11.8%) and Leano (10.6%). Megaton was more resistant to P. xylostella due to lower survival rates of immature stages, lower pupal weights and moth longevity. The generation time of C. vestalis was shortest on Karabo (10.10 days) and Leano (10.38 days), and longest on Megaton (12.57 days) and Empowa (12.80 days). The highest pupal weight of C. vestalis was obtained from parasitoids reared from P. xylostella fed Menzania (5.4 mg), Megaton (5.25 mg) and Beverly Hills (4.85 mg) and the lightest on Karabo (3.8 mg). Parasitoids reared on larvae that fed on Hollywood F1 lived the longest (2.28 days) followed by Menzania (1.94 days) and Beverly Hills (1.8 days), whereas those whose hosts fed on Leano had shortest life span (0.83 days). Despite the parasitoids from Megaton hosts being heavier, their fecundity and number of female progeny per female (16.87 and 3.60, respectively) were lowest. Cotesia vestalis fecundity and daughters produced per female were highest on hosts fed on Menzania (38.00 and 9.13, respectively) and Beverly Hills (32.87 and 9.07, respectively). As a consequence, the net reproductive rate (R0) and intrinsic rate of increase (r) were higher on Menzania (7.87 and 0.58, respectively) and Beverly Hills (8.29 and 0.62, respectively). As survival and overall fitness of P. xylostella was lower on Megaton, this cultivar can play a major role in restricting population growth of this pest and thus generational number of eggs deposited on it during September and October. However, this strong bottom-up effect of Megaton on P. xylostella was cascaded up the food chain, as overall fitness of C. vestalis was lower on hosts developing on it. In contrast, the overall fitness of C. vestalis was higher on hosts that developed on Menzania and Beverly Hills. As these cultivars showed potential to sustain population density of C. vestalis at higher levels, it is also assumed that the period required for the parasitoid to reach the critical density to suppress the host population at a lower average density will be reached quicker than on other cultivars. Thus, their cultivation may improve biological control of P. xylostella during November–May in South Africa / Agriculture, Animal Health and Human Ecology / M. Sc. (Agriculture)

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:25:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-02-22Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:26:16Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 carvalho_js_me_jabo.pdf: 532415 bytes, checksum: cfa12555262ca20f28efd7aad4d084ec (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O trabalho foi desenvolvido no Laboratório de Biologia e Criação de Insetos (LBCI) da Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, Unesp – Jaboticabal, SP, para estudar os efeitos de diferentes concentrações de sinigrina aplicada na superfície foliar de couve e brócolis, em alguns parâmetros biológicos de Plutella xylostella. Para realização dos testes, sinigrina foi aplicada à parte ventral/dorsal das folhas de brássicas das cultivares ‘Da Geórgia’ (couve-manteiga) e ‘Ramoso Piracicaba Precoce’ (brócolis), em solução 5% de Tween 20® em diferentes concentrações (0,0; 0,2; 0,4; 0,8; 1,6 e 3,2 mg/mL). Assim como, avaliou-se o consumo, pelas lagartas, através de medidas de peso fresco, peso seco, área foliar e escala visual de notas para os danos. Observou-se que concentração baixa de sinigrina, em couve e em brócolis, não prejudicou o desenvolvimento de P. xylostella, porém altas concentrações afetaram o parâmetro viabilidade. A análise de agrupamentos, pelo método de “cluster”, mostrou que a dose 0,2mg/mL de sinigrina em ambas variedades apresentou os maiores contrastes, não pertencendo a nenhum grupo. O índice Potencial Reprodutivo Corrigido foi determinante apenas para couve, indicando boa capacidade reprodutiva das lagartas alimentadas com a menor concentração de sinigrina. Nas doses extremas, 0,2 e 3,2mg/mL, observou-se aumento no consumo foliar em couve e diminuição em brócolis. O consumo foi maior pelas lagartas alimentadas com folhas de brócolis. Em geral, o comportamento da traça foi diferente nas cultivares testadas, mas essas diferenças podem estar relacionadas com a quantidade de sinigrina presente naturalmente nas folhas de cada espécie. / The work was carried out in the Laboratório de Biologia e Criação de Insetos (LBCI), at the Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, Unesp, Jaboticabal, SP, with the objective to evaluate the effect of sinigrin applied on foliar surface of cabbage and broccoli, on the biological aspects of Plutella xylostella. It was evaluated: the biology aspects of diamondback moth feeding on cabbage ‘Da Georgia’ and broccoli ‘Ramoso Piracicaba Precoce’ treated with different sinigrin concentrations (0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 1.6 e 3.2mg/mL in 5% of Tween 20® solution, as well as, the consumption, measuring fresh weight, dry weight, foliar area and visual grade scale to the damage. It was observed that low sinigrin concentration, in cabbage and broccoli, does not affect P. xylostella development, however, high concentrations affect the viability. The group analysis by “cluster method”, showed that 0.2mg/mL of sinigrin of both varieties presented the biggest contrast, not belonging any group. The Corrected Reproductive Potential index was determinate just for cabbage, indicating good reproductive capacity with low sinigrin concentration. The extreme sinigrin doses, 0.2, 0.4 and 3.2mg/mL, increase the cabbage leafs consumption and decrease in broccoli. The consumption was bigger by the caterpillars fed on broccoli leafs. In general, the insect behavior was different in the tried cultivars, but these differences can be related to sinigrin quantity present naturally in the leaves of each specie.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:32:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009-12-07Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:42:36Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 scomparin_alx_dr_jabo.pdf: 5977037 bytes, checksum: 8ab4f778519f1e5f248fa28ab2c97182 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A maioria dos organismos vivos são ectotérmicos, com exceção de pássaros e mamíferos. A temperatura corporal (Tc) de um ectotérmico é resultado da troca de calor entre o organismo e o meio ambiente e esta afeta a maioria das funções biológicas. Por exemplo, os insetos, para mudarem de estágio de desenvolvimento, requerem um mínimo de energia acumulada (calor). Para as pragas, a maioria dos modelos fenológicos é baseada na relação entre características do de desenvolvimento (ex., crescimento) e a temperatura do ar. Todavia, a utilização destes modelos ainda é limitada em razão da falta de exatidão na estimativa das temperaturas máximas e mínimas de desenvolvimento para a maioria das pragas. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a importância dos fatores: resistência a inseticidas e termoperíodo, assim como discutir os métodos de modelagem para o inseto endofítico Cydia pomonella. Para tal, se submeteu larvas e pupas de 4 linhagens diferentes desta espécie: sensível (Sv), resistente a diflubenzuron (Rdfb), resistente a deltametrina (Rdelta) e resistente ao granulovírus (Rgv), a 4 termoperíodos (15°C-20°C, 20°C-25°C, 25°C-30°C e 30°C- 35°C). Os parâmetros avaliados foram: taxa de crescimento, mortalidade, razão sexual e temperatura base, mínima e ótima de desenvolvimento do inseto. Com o auxílio dos valores obtidos nestes parâmetros, modelos lineares e curvilineares foram desenvolvidos, comparados entre si e com modelos obtidos por autores a temperaturas constantes. Os resultados mostraram que em condições de temperaturas variáveis a resistência implica em mudanças nos parâmetros biológicos (taxa de crescimento, mortalidade e razão sexual) e que o termoperíodo acelera o crescimento de larvas e pupas de carpocapsa. Com o auxílio dos modelos obtidos, foi realizada uma simulação do período de desenvolvimento de C. pomonella utilizando... / The majority living organisms are ectotherms except birds and mammals. The body temperature (Tb) of an ectotherm results from the energy balance between this the organisms and its environment. The Tb determines most of the biological functions. For instance, a minimum of heat accumulation by insects is needed to pass from a development stage to another during their life cycle. For insect pests, most of phenological models are based on life history trait (e.g., growth) and air temperature. Unfortunately, the use of phenological models is limited since there is a lack of accuracy estimatives in maximum and minimum temperatures. The aim this work was to study the importance of two factors ((i) the insecticide resistance, (ii) the thermoperiod) and the modelling methods to design a phenological model for the the endophyte insect Cydia pomonella. Four strains of C. pomonella: (i) Sv (susceptible strain), (ii) Rdfb (resistant to diflubenzuron), (iii) RD (resistant to deltamethrin), RGv (resistant to C. pomonella granulovirus) and 4 thermoperiods (15°C-20°C, 20°C-25°C, 25°C-30°C e 30°C-35°C) were used. Measured parameters were the development rate, the mortality, the sex ratio, the Toptm, Tmin and Tmax of the development rate. Based on the obtained values for each parameter, linear and curvilinear phenological models were made and compared between them and with those obtained at constant temperature by some authors. Thus, in fluctuating thermal conditions, it was shown that insecticide resistance involved aftereffects on life-history traits as the development rate, the mortality and sex ratio. Also, it was shown that the C. pomonella development rate at larval stage is higher in thermoperiodic conditions. With the models the development of C. pomonella was simulated using air and micro-habitat temperatures for two areas of apple orchards in Europe (e.g., Valais in Switzerland and la Drôme...(Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Submitted by CAROLINE PLACIDI DE BORTOLI null (carubortoli@yahoo.com.br) on 2018-02-22T10:06:56Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_Caroline_Placidi_De_Bortoli.pdf: 20556112 bytes, checksum: 3c463875d34d1f0b87961046250a6dab (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Alexandra Maria Donadon Lusser Segali null (alexmar@fcav.unesp.br) on 2018-02-22T12:45:28Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 debortoli_cp_dr_jabo.pdf: 20556112 bytes, checksum: 3c463875d34d1f0b87961046250a6dab (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-02-22T12:45:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 debortoli_cp_dr_jabo.pdf: 20556112 bytes, checksum: 3c463875d34d1f0b87961046250a6dab (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-16 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Plutella xylostella é uma praga de grande importância para as crucíferas em todo o mundo. Embora seja controlada com inseticidas sintéticos e biológicos, ela pode desenvolver resistência rapidamente a uma variedade de inseticidas. Os biopesticidas mais comuns utilizados para controlar P. xylostella são baseados na bactéria entomopatogênica Bacillus thuringiensis. Embora muitos estudos tenham sido realizados com Bt, o modo de ação ainda não é totalmente compreendido. Uma grande diversidade de genes é diferencialmente expressa no intestino médio de insetos resistentes, o que sugere que vários processos celulares podem estar envolvidos na resistência. Descobertas recentes mostraram que as mutações no gene que codifica o transportador ABCC2 são responsáveis pela resistência às toxinas Bt em diferentes espécies de insetos. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi testar a hipótese de que a susceptibilidade de P. xylostella a Bt se correlaciona com o nível de expressão dos componentes desse regulador de estresse. Os níveis de expressão dos genes ALP, APN, CDKAL 1, MAP4K4 e ABCC2 foi comparado utilizando qPCR, entre populações suscetíveis e resistentes de P. xylostella. A investigação da sequência de DNA do cDNA do ABCC2 foi realizada, por PCR e sequenciamento, para testar a hipótese de que a susceptibilidade de P. xylostella a Bt se correlaciona com mutações no gene ABCC2. Foram realizados retrocruzamentos entre populações suscetíveis e resistentes e cruzamentos de complementação entre populações resistentes. Nossa pesquisa demonstrou que não há padrões na expressão dos genes testados demonstrando nenhuma associação entre expressão e resistência/susceptibilidade. No entanto, ao investigar a sequência do gene ABCC2, encontrou-se uma mutação no gene da população brasileira resistente, que poderia ser responsável pela causa da resistência da população estudada neste trabalho. Os ensaios de retrocruzamentos não confirmaram que a resistência foi devida à supressão de 1 pb encontrada, no entanto, os ensaios complementares indicaram que a população brasileira compartilha um alelo de resistência com a população havaiana resistente. / Plutella xylostella is a major insect pest of cruciferous crops worldwide. Although controlled with both synthetic and biological insecticides it can rapidly evolve resistance to a variety of insecticides. The most common biopesticides used to control P. xylostella are based on the entomopathogenic bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis. Although many studies have been performed on Bt, the mode of action is still not fully understood. A wide diversity of genes are differentially expressed in the midgut of resistant insects, this suggests that a variety of cell processes may be involved in the preservation of resistance. Recent discoveries have shown that mutations in the gene encoding an ABCC2 transporter are responsible for resistance to Bt toxins in various different insect species. The aim of this research was to test the hypothesis that the susceptibility of P. xylostella to Bt correlates with the level of expression of components of this putative stress-response regulon. The level of expression of ALP, APN, CDKAL 1, MAP4K4 and ABCC2 genes were compared using qPCR, between susceptible and resistant P. xylostella populations. The investigation of the DNA sequence of ABCC2 cDNA was performed, through PCR and sequencing, to test the hypothesis that the susceptibility of P. xylostella to Bt correlates with mutations on the ABCC2 gene. Backcrosses between susceptible and resistant populations and complementation cross between resistant populations were performed. Our research demonstrated that there were no patterns in the expression of the genes tested demonstrating no association between expression and resistance/susceptibility. However, when investigating the ABCC2 gene sequence, a mutation in the gene of the Brazilian resistant population was found, which could be responsible for the resistance of the Brazilian population studied in this research. Backcrossing assays didn’t confirm that the resistance was due to the 1bp deletion found, however complementation assays indicated that the resistant Brazilian population shares a resistance allele with the resistant Hawaiian population. / FAPESP: 2015/05891-6 / FAPESP: 2016/04868-3 / CNPq: 140916/2014-8 / CNPq: 166510/2017-3