Population structure and adaptive signals in the white-backed planthopper, Sogatella furcifera inferred from genome-wide analysis.

Background: The white-backed planthopper (WBPH), Sogatella furcifera (Horváth) (Homoptera: Delphacidae), is a highly migratory insect pest that poses a significant threat to rice production in East and Southeast Asia. Although considerable advances have been made in understanding its migration sources and dispersal patterns with the advent of newer molecular tools, genomic-level insights into these processes, as well as its environmental adaptation mechanisms, remain limited.

Results: This study conducted whole-genome resequencing of 289 WBPH individuals from China and Southeast Asian countries, including Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, to investigate population structure, gene flow and selective signals.