Multiple Evolutionary Events in Host Plant Adaptation in Lepidoptera

作者：Mei Luo, Bin Li, Lixin Ma, Zhongqiang Jia, Zhan Shi, Hangwei Liu, Ze Wang, Bing Zhang, Sheng Yu, Jinfeng Qi, Yutao Xiao, Shaoqun Zhou, Henry Chung, Guirong Wang · 发表于：Plant Cell & Environment · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.1111/pce.70502 · 被引用次数：1 · 研究领域：Insect-Plant Interactions and Control、Insect Resistance and Genetics、Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research

The evolution of insect host adaptation is a key component of insect-plant coevolution, a complex process often shaped by multiple evolutionary events. In this study, we identified two UDP-glycosyltransferase (UGT) genes, SfruUGT33T10 and SfruUGT33F32, in the fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda, which are essential for tolerance to benzoxazinoids (BXs), key secondary metabolites in maize. These two detoxification enzymes exhibited distinct glycosylation patterns for BXs and varying detoxification efficiencies, reflecting independent evolutionary trajectories. Evolutionary analyses revealed that SfruUGT33T10 originated independently within Noctuidae, while SfruUGT33F32 resulted from tandem duplication within the UGT33F gene family and may have undergone neofunctionalization within the Spodoptera genus. Our findings provide evidence that the evolution of these two UGT paralogs contributed to the variation in the tolerance to maize BXs among different lepidopteran species. This research underscores the significance of multiple independent evolutionary routes in host plant adaptation and offers new insights into the complex evolutionary processes underlying insect-plant interactions.