The ladybird Propylea japonica, adults of the green lacewing Chrysoperla nipponensis and the honey bee Apis mellifera are common pollen feeders in many crop systems. They could therefore be directly exposed to Cry proteins in Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)-transgenic crop fields by ingestion of pollen. They, or closely related species, are therefore often selected as surrogate test species in non-target risk assessment of Bt plants. In the current study, we evaluated the potential effects of the ingestion of Bt maize pollen containing the Cry1Ab/Cry1Ac fusion protein on various life-table parameters of the three pollen-feeding non-target species in laboratory feeding assays. The results showed that pupation rate and male adult fresh weight of P. japonica were significantly increased when fed pollen from Bt maize compared to control maize pollen, but other test life-table parameters were not affected. For the other two species, none of the tested life-table parameters (survival, pre-oviposition period, fecundity and adult fresh weight for C. nipponensis; survival and mean acinus diameter of hypopharyngeal glands for A. mellifera) differed between non-Bt and Bt maize pollen treatments. ELISA measurements confirmed the stability and uptake of the Cry protein by all three species during the feeding bioassays. In addition, a sensitive insect bioassay confirmed the bioactivity of the Cry1Ab/Cry1Ac protein in the Bt maize pollen used. Overall, the results suggested that the three pollen feeders are not sensitive to the Cry1Ab/Cry1Ac protein, and planting of the Bt maize variety will pose a negligible risk to P. japonica, adult C. nipponensis and adult A. mellifera.

Rambutan is a tropical tree and its fruit has several favorable characteristics. To understand how the color of the rambutan fruit peel develops, the transcriptome, flavonoid metabolome, and carotenoid metabolome data of two rambutan cultivars, ‘BY2’ and ‘BY7’, which show yellow and red peels at maturity, respectively, were comprehensively analyzed at three developmental stages. We identified 26 carotenoid components and 53 flavonoid components in these cultivars. Anthocyanins were the main component contributing to the red color of ‘BY7’ after reaching ripeness. The carotenoid content decreased sharply as the fruit matured. Hence, we speculated that flavonols were the main contributors to the yellow color of the ‘BY2’ peel. In total, 6805 differentially expressed genes were screened by transcriptome analysis; the majority of them were enriched in metabolic pathways and the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis results revealed that in addition to MYB and bHLH, ERF, WRKY, MYB-related, and C3H were the main potential transcription factors regulating the color of the rambutan peel. In addition, we also identified 12 structural genes associated with flavonoid biosynthesis. The research findings shed light on the molecular mechanisms of color acquisition in rambutan fruit peels, laying the foundation for the quality control of rambutan and the cultivation of differently colored cultivars of rambutan.

Outbreaks of the oriental fruit fly, Bactrocera dorsalis (Hendel), present significant challenges to global fruit production, necessitating effective control measures that minimize environmental risks and pesticide resistance. This study aimed to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of four distinct push–pull control strategies for managing B. dorsalis outbreaks in a Nephelium lappaceum orchard. These strategies involved the inclusion of low-concentration abamectin, spraying repellent with a drone or manually, using methyl eugenol (ME) or food bait and employing either two types of attractants and repellents or a single type. The findings indicated that incorporating the low-concentration abamectin into the push–pull system, utilizing ME as an attractant instead of food lures and manually applying abamectin and attractants were all effective in reducing the B. dorsalis population size and minimizing fruit damage. While increasing the diversity of repellents and attractants enhanced the long-term effectiveness of the system, it did not result in a significant decrease in B. dorsalis population size or fruit damage rate compared to using a single repellent or attractant. In conclusion, the push–pull strategy emerged as a viable method for managing B. dorsalis outbreaks, offering potential benefits in reducing environmental risks and pesticide resistance. However, the study underscored the importance of the context-specific construction of push–pull strategies to optimize their effectiveness in orchard settings.

Durian (Durio zibethinus) germplasm may be incorrectly named, mislabeled, or genetically misidentified during introduction, exchange, and nursery stock distribution. Morphological identification is also affected by environmental conditions and plant developmental stages. A core simple sequence repeat (SSR) marker set was developed for the identification of durian germplasm. Genome-wide mining identified 106,776 SSR loci in the durian reference genome, and 18 stable and polymorphic markers were selected from 160 candidate primer pairs through agarose gel screening and M13-tailed fluorescent capillary electrophoresis. A total of 142 alleles were detected at the 18 SSR loci across the 58 durian accessions, with 3–15 alleles per locus and PIC values ranging from 0.422 to 0.849. Exhaustive evaluation of all marker combinations identified a minimum six-locus core SSR marker set comprising Y6, Y12, Y15, Y75, Y91, and Y108, which generated unique multilocus genotypes for all 58 accessions in the current validation panel, with a cumulative probability of identity (PID) of 7.99 × 10⁻⁸. STRUCTURE analysis, with K representing the number of inferred genetic clusters, supported K = 8 and revealed admixture in several accessions. The core SSR marker set developed in this study can distinguish the 58 durian accessions and be used to construct their DNA fingerprints. Validation in larger and more genetically diverse germplasm collections is required before routine commercial deployment.

The Vulgichneumon sp. belongs to the subfamily Ichneumoninae of Ichneumonidae. The mitogenome (GenBank accession number: MN178162) of Vulgichneumon sp. was sequenced, the first representative of the mitogenome of the subfamily. The nearly complete mitogenome is 15,306 bp totally, consisting of 13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNAs and 22 transfer RNAs. The nucleotide composition biases toward A and T, which together made up 83.6% of the entirety. Bayesian inference analysis supported the monophyly of Evanioidea, Chalcidoidea, Platygastroidea, Proctotrupoidea, Ceraphronoidea, and Ichneumonoidea. This result also suggested that the clade that contains other six superfamilies was the sister group to the clade that consist of Trigonaloidea, Megalyroidea and Ichneumonoidea.