Dominant fitness costs of abamectin resistance in Plutella xylostella

BACKGROUND The TH ‐Abm strain of Plutella xylostella , exhibiting 23 670‐fold resistance to abamectin, was selected from a field‐evolved multiresistant population. By repeated backcrossing to a susceptible strain (Roth) and selection with abamectin, the resistance trait of TH ‐Abm was introgressed into Roth to generate a near‐isogenic strain (Roth‐Abm). Fitness costs associated with abamectin resistance were examined in Roth‐Abm. RESULTS Compared with Roth, Roth‐Abm obtained 11 500‐fold resistance to abamectin and 364 000‐, 12‐ and 12‐fold cross‐resistance to emamectin benzoate, spinosad and fipronil respectively. Roth‐Abm has a significantly longer pupal development time, lesser female pupal weight and lower larval survival than Roth. Female fecundity and egg viability are significantly lower in Roth‐Abm than in Roth. All of the above fitness components of the F 1 progeny from Roth × Roth‐Abm are similar to those of Roth‐Abm and are significantly lower than those of Roth. By comparing with the net replacement rate ( R 0 ) of Roth, the fitness of Roth‐Abm, F 1a (Roth male × Roth‐Abm) and F 1b (Roth female × Roth‐Abm) are 0.50, 0.50 and 0.53 respectively. CONCLUSION Abamectin resistance in Roth‐Abm results in significant fitness costs, and the fitness costs are autosomal and dominant. Rotation of abamectin with other insecticides without cross‐resistance could be especially useful for delaying abamectin resistance in P. xylostella . © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry