To identify genes that commonly respond to the treatment of different insecticides, 3rd instar larvae of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella, were treated with sublethal doses (<LC10) of chlorantraniliprole, cypermethrin, dinotefuran, indoxacarb and spinosad via leaf dipping. Then, transcriptomic profiles of treated larvae were compared with that of untreated control. A total of 117,181 transcripts in average with a mean length of 662 bp were generated by de novo assembly, of which 35,329 transcripts were annotated. Among them, 207, 153, 336, 360, and 262 transcripts were determined to be up-regulated whereas 117, 47, 92, 115, and 81 genes were down-regulated following treatments with chlorantraniliprole, cypermethrin, dinotefuran, indoxacarb and spinosad, respectively. Finally, with the criteria of >10 X fold change (FC) and p < 0.05 or >4 X FC, p < 0.05 and q < 0.2, the genes commonly over-transcribed in all treated insects were selected and their over-transcription levels were confirmed by quantitative PCR. These commonly responding genes included three cytochrome P450 genes (Cyp303a1, Cyp6a20 and CYP9E2), three cuticle protein genes (LM-8, LM-19 and TM-A3A), lavesin-1, acyl-CoA D11 desaturase, glucose dehydrogenase, nose resistant to fluxetine protein 6, chorion peroxidase and protein yellow. As the five test insecticides have distinct structure and mode of action, the genes identified in this study were suggested to be involved in general chemical defense at the initial stage of intoxication. Their possible roles in tolerance and resistance development were further discussed.

• Yue Gao(Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University)
• Kyungmun Kim(Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University)
• Deok Ho Kwon(Research institute for Agriculture and Life Science, Seoul National University)
• Si Hyeock Lee(Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University Research institute for Agriculture and Life Science, Seoul National University)