Mutational disruption of the ABCC2 gene in fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, confers resistance to the Cry1Fa and Cry1A.105 insecticidal proteins

The use of Bt proteins in crops has revolutionized insect pest management by offering effective season-long control. However, field-evolved resistance to Bt proteins threatens their utility and durability. A recent example is field-evolved resistance to Cry1Fa and Cry1A.105 in fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda). This resistance has been detected in Puerto Rico, mainland USA, and Brazil. A S. frugiperda population with suspected resistance to Cry1Fa was sampled from a maize field in Puerto Rico and used to develop a resistant lab colony. The colony demonstrated resistance to Cry1Fa and partial cross-resistance to Cry1A.105 in diet bioassays. Using genetic crosses and proteomics, we show that this resistance is due to loss-of-function mutations in the ABCC2 gene. We characterize two novel mutant alleles from Puerto Rico. We also find that these alleles are absent in a broad screen of partially resistant Brazilian populations. These findings confirm that ABCC2 is a receptor for Cry1Fa and Cry1A.105 in S. frugiperda, and lay the groundwork for genetically enabled resistance management in this species, with the caution that there may be several distinct ABCC2 resistances alleles in nature.