Defeating The 'Superpests'

Researchers at Rothamsted Research in Hertfordshire, working withresearchers in New South Wales, Australia have developed a way tocounter the pests' most common way of becoming resistant and in trialsit has proved to be almost 100 per cent effective.

Resistance to pesticides is a global problem, which is hittingtropical and developing countries particularly hard. Insect pests oftendevelop resistance by over-producing enzymes that degrade theeffectiveness of a pesticide. The Rothamsted scientists, supported bythe Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC),have developed a product that blocks the enzymes and then delivers adose of pesticide 4-5 hours later to kill the newly defenceless insect.

The technique uses piperonyl butoxide (PBO), a chemical derivedoriginally from the sassafras tree and used for many years inlaboratories to enhance the effectiveness of other chemicals. The PBObinds to the enzyme that would otherwise break down the pesticide.However, the key with this research has been to work out the correcttime delay between applying the PBO inhibitor and spraying thepesticide. The insects' enzyme function has to be completelydebilitated before pesticide is sprayed for the method to be effective.

Dr Graham Moores, research leader at Rothamsted Research, said,"Populations of aphids, cotton bollworm, whitefly, diamondback moth andmosquitoes are all becoming harder to control so we need a way toovercome insects' increasing resistance to pesticides. Using thisapproach to defeat the pests' enzyme processes reduces the amount ofpesticide that farmers need to spray on a field. It will also helpfarmers in developing countries who cannot afford more costly, newerchemicals. In tests on whiteflies in Spain and Australia the enzymeinhibitor combined with a time delayed release of the pesticide provedto be almost 100 per cent effective."

Professor Julia Goodfellow, Chief Executive of BBSRC, said,"This research shows how UK agricultural science can have real benefitsfor a wide range of people. This research has led to a product that canhelp both western and developing world farmers to defeat insects thathave built up resistance to common pesticides. This will directly helpto reduce the pesticide burden on the environment."

The phased-release technology has been developed in partnershipwith Dr Robin Gunning at New South Wales Department of PrimaryIndustries, Tamworth, Australia and the Italian company Endura SpA.

Notes:
This story appears in the October issue of Business, the quarterlymagazine of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.BBSRC Business carries stories about the activities of the ResearchCouncil and highlights from its research portfolio.

Rothamsted Research is the largest agricultural researchinstitute in the UK and is sponsored by BBSRC. For more informationplease visit: http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk

About BBSRC
The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)is the UK funding agency for research in the life sciences. Sponsoredby Government, BBSRC annually invests around £336 million in a widerange of research that makes a significant contribution to the qualityof life for UK citizens and supports a number of important industrialstakeholders including the agriculture, food, chemical, healthcare andpharmaceutical sectors. http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk<