Date: 3/31/99

Time: 8:05

Type: Symposium

Number: 220

Recent advances in utilization of baculoviruses

*B. McCutchen, DuPont Agricultural Products, Newark, DE 19714; A. Lu, , ; J. Presnail, , ; J. Wong, L. Flexner, A. Van, N. van Beek, , and R. Herrmann,
Contact e-mail: bill.f.mccutchen@usa.dupont.com

Baculoviruses expressing insect-selective neurotoxins are showing great potential as integrated pest management tools for the selective control of major insect pest complexes. These recombinant viruses essentially act as highly specific delivery vehicles for toxins, and thus their efficacy is dependent on the timing and quantity of toxin expressed during infection. Expression of selected paralytic neurotoxins isolated from the venoms of arthropods leads to a significant reduction in time to kill of insect hosts infected with the recombinant viruses compared to their wild-type virus counterparts . Efforts to optimize the timing and expression of toxins in vitro has successfully resulted in increased efficacy of the recombinant in vivo. An overview of current research will be presented along with the potential utilization and environmental issues associated with the eventual commercialization of these new insecticides.

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