Transgenic avidin maize is resistant to storage insect pests

Avidin is a glycoprotein found in chicken egg white, that sequesters the vitamin biotin. Here we show that when present in maize at levels of ≥100 p.p.m., avidin is toxic to and prevents development of insects that damage grains during storage. Insect toxicity is caused by a biotin deficiency, as shown by prevention of toxicity with biotin supplementation. The avidin maize is not, however, toxic to mice when administered as the sole component of their diet for 21 days. These data suggest that avidin expression in food or feed grain crops can be used as a biopesticide against a spectrum of stored-product insect pests

Insect Pest Management in Stored Grain

Once cereal grain is harvested and put into storage, it provides a resource for a range of insect pests of stored grain. With few exceptions, these insects rarely attack grain in the field before harvest, but once the grain is in storage there is a degree of inevitability that insect infestation will occur. This means that methods are needed to either disinfest grain or to protect it from infestation during storage. The aim of this chapter is to review recent advances in insect pest management in stored grain, ranging from methods that are well established to those that are still being evaluated. This topic has been the subject of considerable laboratory and field research as evidenced by the large and growing body of published studies. Resistance to phosphine resistance and various insecticides, as well as the phase-out of methyl bromide as an ozone-depleting substance, continue to be major drivers for research on management of insects in stored products. Other research has focussed on improving the basic understanding of various methods or ways of improving methods currently in use. Despite extensive research on a wide variety of chemical and non-chemical treatments, very few have been commercialised. Two examples are spinosad, which has been registered as a grain protectant, and sulfuryl fluoride, which is now available as a grain fumigant. The interest in non-chemical treatments, especially aeration cooling, is encouraging. In general, integrated pest management is seen as the goal of entomologists, requiring the strategic integration of multiple methods to provide maximum effect with minimal health and environmental risks. Some of the chemical and non-chemical treatments reviewed in this chapter have great potential to be used as part of an integrated approach