Cotton Boll Weevil (Anthonomus grandis) Genome Sequencing and Population Genomics As Tools for Monitoring and Eradication

Despite successful eradication from most of the US cotton belt, the cotton boll weevil (Anthonomus grandis) remains a major pest of cotton in northern Mexico and continues to infest areas of Texas along the border with Mexico. Weevils from populations in Mexico may act as source populations for re-introductions of the pest to southern Texas and other states – or vice versa.  Our project involves the development of genetic tools based on next generation DNA sequencing technologies that may be able to rapidly differentiate A. grandis from other closely related weevil species and infer the movement of boll weevils among populations in Mexico and southern Texas.