Funding period: 2020-2024
Lead: Michel Cusson and Sandrine Picq
Total GRDI funding: $371,635
This GRDI project aims to develop tools that will strengthen the bio-surveillance capabilities of Canada in its efforts to prevent the introduction and establishment of two potentially devastating exotic pests, the Asian gypsy moth (AGM) and the Siberian silk moth (SSM). The main objective of the AGM component is to develop a panel of markers enabling identification of the geographic origins of samples intercepted on inspected vessels and assessment of female flight capability. Regarding the SSM, we aim to develop a molecular tool for the identification of egg samples suspected of being SSM or related lasiocampid species. Invasive forest pests are estimated to cost the Canadian and US forest industries $720 million and $4.2 billion annually, respectively. Our main end-user, the CFIA, will benefit from our tools, improving their diagnostic capacity and assisting them in decision-making and planning of procedures to reduce risks of biological invasions and associated economic losses.
Publications
- Capron A, Stewart D, Hrywkiw K, Allen K, Feau N, Bilodeau G, Tanguay P, Cusson M, Hamelin RC. 2020. In situ processing and efficient environmental detection (iSPEED) of pests and pathogens of trees using point-of-use real-time PCR. PLoS ONE, 15(4): e0226863. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226863
- Picq S, Wu Y, Martemyanov VV, Pouliot E, Pfister SE, Hamelin R, Cusson M. 2023. Range-wide population genomics of the spongy moth, Lymantria dispar (Erebidae): Implications for biosurveillance, subspecies classification and phylogeography of a destructive moth. Evolutionary Applications 16(3), 638-656. https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.13522
- Sparks ME, Hebert FO, Johnston JS, Hamelin R, Cusson M, Levesque R, Gundersen-Rindal DE. 2021. Sequencing, assembly and annotation of the whole-insect genome of Lymantria dispar dispar, the European gypsy moth. G3 Genes, Genomes, Genetics: jkab150. https://doi.org/10.1093/g3journal/jkab150
- Stewart D, Djoumad A, Holden D, Kimoto T, Capron A, Dubatolov VV, Akhanaev YB, Yakimova ME, Matermyanov VV, Cusson M. 2023. A TaqMan assay for the detection and monitoring of potentially invasive lasiocampids, with particular attention to the Siberian silk moth, Dendrolimus sibiricus (Lepidoptera: Lasiocampidae). Journal of Insect Science 23(1), 5; 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/ieac062
Contact us
For additional information, please contact:
Genomics R&D Initiative
Email: info@grdi-irdg.collaboration.gc.ca