Pesticide-induced resurgence in brown planthoppers is mediated by action on a suite of genes that promote juvenile hormone biosynthesis and female fecundity

Pesticide-induced resurgence, increases in pest insect populations following pesticide application, is a serious threat to the sustainable control of many highly damaging crop pests. Resurgence can result from pesticide-enhanced pest reproduction, however, the molecular mechanisms mediating this process remain unresolved. Here we show that brown planthopper (BPH) resurgence in rice crops following exposure to sublethal doses of the pesticide emamectin benzoate (EB) results from the coordinated action of a suite of genes that regulate juvenile hormone (JH) levels, resulting in increased JH titer in adult females and enhanced fecundity. We demonstrate that EB treatment at sublethal levels results in profound changes in female BPH fitness including increased egg maturation and oviposition. This enhanced reproductive fitness results from the EB-mediated upregulation of key genes involved in the regulation of JH, including JHAMT and Kr-h1 and the downregulation of allatostatin (AstA) and allatostatin receptor (AstAR) expression. AstA signaling is known to inhibit the production of JH in the corpora allata and hence EB exposure diminishes this inhibitory action. We find that the changes in gene expression following EB exposure are caused by the allosteric action of this insecticide on its molecular target, the glutamate-gated chloride channel (GluCl). Collectively, these results provide mechanistic insights into the regulation of negative pesticide-induced responses in insects and reveal some key actors involved in the JH-signaling pathway that underpin pesticide resurgence. SignificancePesticides remain a key means of controlling many of the worlds insect pests. However, in some cases, pesticide applications can result in resurgence of pest populations due to pesticide-induced increases in fecundity. In the current study, we show that pesticide resurgence in the brown planthopper (BPH) following exposure to the insecticide emamectin benzoate (EB) results from the transcriptional reprogramming of a diverse suite of positive and negative regulators of juvenile hormone (JH), a critical regulator of insect development and reproduction. This in turn leads to profound increases in female BPH reproductive fitness and enhanced fecundity. Our findings unravel some of the molecular mechanisms mediating pesticide-induced pest resurgence and inform the development of novel strategies to control highly damaging crop pests.