Genomic changes associated with insecticide resistance in economically important insect pests in Croatia

The emergence of resistance (pest resistance to control measures) is a serious and growing problem in agricultural production that significantly reduces yields. Without effective control, 70% of food for human and livestock consumption would potentially be wasted. The western corn rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte) (WCR), Codling moth (Cydia pomonella L.) (CM), and Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata Say) (CPB) are the most important pests in Croatian agriculture, and these insects have developed resistance to various insecticides and established control strategies. There is a need to find effective methods for determining resistance that will allow early detection and the development and timely implementation of resistance control strategies. In this study, two methods were used. The first was single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers which were used to perform detailed population genetic analysis of the whole genome of the insects investigated. The second was geometric morphometric (GM) methods to analyze morphological variations related to resistance development. The aim of this dissertation was to analyze population genetic structure, differentiation, gene flow, distribution and adaptability of the three target insect pests by genotyping SNPs. In addition, morphometric analyzes were performed to examine phenotypic variation across populations investigated in Croatia.