Abstract
Context S. frugiperda (or Fall armyworm FAW), a polyphagous Noctuid moth attacking staple crops (corn, rice, sorghum, soybeans, sugar cane) was initially present on the American continent and the Caribbean. Since 2016, it has become a pest wordwide since it first invaded Sub-Saharan Africa then India, and in 2019 China, Korea, Japan to the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam , Malaysia and Indonesia as well as Egypt, threatening now Australia and Europe. Since the 2000s, the DGIMI laboratory has been developing genomic resources on this insect to understand the interaction with host plants, pathogens and parasites for biological control purposes. CSIRO Canberra developed genomic ressources on another Noctuid moth Helicoverpa armigera which became invasive in America. Project challenges Scientific issues 1) Characterize the genetic diversity of invasive and native populations in order to identify the populations at the origin of the invasion 2) Characterize the adaptive potential of invasive populations in their new environments. This required the establishment of a global collection network and population genomic analyzes at the scale of mitochondrial and nuclear genomes, the first published papers being based on only one mitochondrial or nuclear marker which turn out to be very uninformative. Strategic challenges 1) Maintain INRA's leadership in Spodoptera genomics after having published the reference genomes of the two host plant variants of Spodoptera frugiperda in 2017 2) Strengthen our scientific strike force by reactivating collaboration with our CSIRO colleagues who have a expertise in genomics of the invasion of another Noctuelle polyphage Helicorverpa armigera 3) Position itself on a global scale on the subject of the biology of the invasion of this insect (compared to the FAO and the CAAS in China in particular) by publications.