Journal of Economic Entomology (2001) 94, 1564-1570

Josette Chaufaux, Maryvonne Seguin, Jeffrey J. Swanson, Denis Bourguet and Blair D. Siegfried (2001)
Chronic exposure of the European corn borer (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) to Cry1Ab Bacillus thuringiensis toxin
Journal of Economic Entomology 94 (6), 1564-1570
Abstract: Transgenic corn expressing the insecticidal toxin from Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner is gaining support as an effective control technology for use against lepidopteran pests, particularly European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis Hübner (Lepidoptera: Crambidae). However, there is concern that widespread adoption of transgenic plants will rapidly lead to B. thuringiensis toxin resistance. Thus, long-term selection of O. nubilalis populations with the Cry1Ab B. thuringiensis toxin has been undertaken in several laboratories in the United States and in Europe. We present results from two independent selection experiments performed in laboratories at the University of Nebraska and at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique in France. Although the protocols and methods used by the two laboratories were different, the results were comparable. The highest level of resistance occurred at generation 7 (14-fold), generation 9 (13-fold), and generation 9 (32-fold) for three different strains. For each strain, the level of resistance fluctuated from generation to generation, although there were consistently significant decreases in toxin susceptibility across generations for all selected strains. These results suggest that low levels of resistance are common among widely distributed O. nubilalis populations.
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Full text of article
Database assignments for author(s): Blair D. Siegfried, Denis Bourguet

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
pesticide resistance of pest
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
resistance/tolerance/defence of host

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Ostrinia nubilalis	Maize/corn (Zea mays)	U.S.A. (mid N)
Bacillus thuringiensis genes in crops (entomopathogen)	Ostrinia nubilalis	Maize/corn (Zea mays)	U.S.A. (mid N)
Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1A-toxin (entomopathogen)	Ostrinia nubilalis	Maize/corn (Zea mays)	U.S.A. (mid N)