Evidence of population expansion and insecticide resistance mechanism in invasive fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda).

BACKGROUND: The invasive and calamitous polyphagous pest Spodoptera frugiperda or commonly known as fall armyworm (FAW) poses serious menace to the global agricultural production. Owing to the revamped invasion of FAW in 2018 in India, present study was undertaken for precise assessment of its genetic identity and pesticide resistance to aid in pest-management strategies. RESULTS: To evaluate the diversity in FAW population across Eastern India, mitochondrial COI sequences were used which revealed a low nucleotide diversity. Analysis of molecular variance indicated significant genetic variation between four global geographical FAW populations with lowest differentiation between India and Africa suggesting a present-day and shared origin of FAW. The study demonstrated existence of two different strains ('R' strain and 'C' strain) based on COI gene marker. However, discrepancies between COI marker and host plant association of FAW was observed. Characterization of Tpi gene revealed abundance of TpiCa1a followed by TpiCa2b and TpiR1a strains respectively. The FAW population showed higher susceptibility towards chlorantraniliprole and spinetoram than cypermethrin. Insecticide resistance genes depicted marked upregulation although with lot of variance. Chlorantraniliprole resistance ratio (RR) exhibited significant correlation with 1950 (Glutathione S-transferase, GST), 9131 (Cytochrome P450, CYP) and 9360 (CYP) genes, while spinetoram and cypermethrin RR was found to correlate with 1950 (GST) and 9360 (CYP) genes. CONCLUSION: This study manifests Indian subcontinent as the potential new hotspot for the growth and distribution of FAW population that can be effectively controlled using chlorantraniliprole and spinetoram. This study also adds novel significant information on FAW population across Eastern India for developing a comprehensive pest management approach for S. frugiperda.

Evaluation of cancer awareness, cancer education, and prevention intervention techniques among university-level students in the United States and India.

BACKGROUND: Cancer is one of the leading causes of death globally. A considerable number of different cancer types may be preventable, using primary intervention techniques, such as health education, cancer awareness, behaviors and lifestyle modifications. The present study conducted a comparative assessment of cancer awareness among undergraduate students of the United States and India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Students from an Institution in India (KC) (55 females, 33 males), and an Institution in the United States of America (SHU) (226 female, 58 male) during 2019-2020 participated in this study. Participants (n = 372) across all majors and all years (first through fourth year) completed an online questionnaire and answered the questions on their demographic characteristics (e.g., gender, age, and location), academic status (e.g., year of study, major), multiple-choice questions about cancer knowledge, and opinion questions (e.g., "where would you find info," "should therapies be free"). Student responses were collected using Qualtrics Survey Software. Excel was used to analyze responses. We conducted statistical Χ2 tests for independence to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference between the expected frequencies and the observed frequencies in one or more categories of a contingency table, with a significance of ɑ = 0.01. While small sizes due to the small institutions and the response pool, we note that we achieved the necessary "n" for all tests reported. RESULTS: Our research shows a few important statistically significant differences, including knowledge of cancer and breast lumps is dependent on location, ranking of global cancer deaths is dependent on location, and that cancer knowledge is dependent on the information source. All for Χ2 tests with P < 0.001. CONCLUSIONS: Further encouragement of education for young people in various aspects of cancer and cancer prevention, as well as information facility and sources of reliable data, could be helpful for improving the overall health and primary prevention. A thorough assessment is needed to understand the responsible factors for the observed cancer knowledge variations among students of two different places.