Bait sprays against the European cherry fruit fly Rhagoletis cerasi: Status Quo & Perspectives

Bait spray experiments against Rhagoletis cerasi were carried out in 2005 to 2007. The main principle of this method is to use food (e.g. sugar and proteins) as baits for the flies with small amounts of insecticides, which is applied on parts of the cherry tree. Main focus was aimed at laboratory and field cage experiments using the commercial GF-120 Naturalyte Fruit Fly BaitTM with the insecticide spinosad, which is registered against North American cherry fruit fly species in the US and Canada. Furthermore, additional bait spray formulations as alternatives to GF-120 were used to define the right food bait quality for a high attractiveness and low reproduction ability. Beyond, the negative effect on reproduction of flies for azadirachtin (neem) was shown. During this project, promising results, e.g. efficacies up to 99 % with infestation rates below the infestation threshold were obtained. From 2008 on, other insecticides, like azadirachtin (neem) and pyrethrine in an appropriate food bait mixture will be used. Questions like efficacy, adequate concentrations, persistence, rainfastness and practicability in commercial cherry orchards will be answered

Investigation of Elements Sufficient To Imprint the Mouse Air Promoter

Imprinted maternal-allele-specific expression of the mouse insulin-like growth-factor type 2 receptor (Igf2r) gene depends on a 3.7-kb element named region 2, located in the second intron of the gene. Region 2 carries a maternal-allele-specific methylation imprint and contains an imprinted CpG island promoter (Air) that expresses a noncoding antisense RNA from the paternal inherited allele only. Here, we use transgenes to test the minimal requirements for imprinting of Air and to test if the action of region 2 is restricted to Igf2r. Transgenes up to 9 kb with Air as a single promoter are expressed but not imprinted. When coupled to the Igf2r CpG island promoter on a 44-kb transgene, Air was imprinted in one of three lines. However, Air on a 4.6-kb fragment is also imprinted in 2 of 14 lines when inserted in an intron of an adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (Aprt) transgene, and in one line, the imprinted methylation and expression of Air have been transferred onto the Aprt CpG island promoter. These data suggest that a dual CpG island promoter setting may facilitate Air imprinting as a short transgene and also show that Air can transfer imprinting onto other genes. However, for reliable Air imprinting, elements are necessary that are located outside a 44-kb region spanning the Air-Igf2r promoters