Integrated Pest Management Poster for Farm Markets

Unlike organic producers, who widely advertise their produce as organically grown, very few farmers using IPM practices advertise their produce as IPM grown. An IPM poster was developed for farmers asking for help in educating their customers. The posters were displayed in 10 farm markets in New Jersey. The posters and accompanying fact sheets stimulated public interest. Additionally, the poster was well received by the participating growers, and there have been many inquiries about further distribution or availability. The poster is general enough to be used in other states and is available through the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Office of Pest Management

Extended Sentinel Monitoring of Helicoverpa zea Resistance to Cry and Vip3Aa Toxins in Bt Sweet Corn: Assessing Changes in Phenotypic and Allele Frequencies of Resistance

Transgenic corn and cotton that produce Cry and Vip3Aa toxins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are widely planted in the United States to control lepidopteran pests. The sustainability of these Bt crops is threatened because the corn earworm/bollworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), is evolving a resistance to these toxins. Using Bt sweet corn as a sentinel plant to monitor the evolution of resistance, collaborators established 146 trials in twenty-five states and five Canadian provinces during 2020–2022. The study evaluated overall changes in the phenotypic frequency of resistance (the ratio of larval densities in Bt ears relative to densities in non-Bt ears) in H. zea populations and the range of resistance allele frequencies for Cry1Ab and Vip3Aa. The results revealed a widespread resistance to Cry1Ab, Cry2Ab2, and Cry1A.105 Cry toxins, with higher numbers of larvae surviving in Bt ears than in non-Bt ears at many trial locations. Depending on assumptions about the inheritance of resistance, allele frequencies for Cry1Ab ranged from 0.465 (dominant resistance) to 0.995 (recessive resistance). Although Vip3Aa provided high control efficacy against H. zea, the results show a notable increase in ear damage and a number of surviving older larvae, particularly at southern locations. Assuming recessive resistance, the estimated resistance allele frequencies for Vip3Aa ranged from 0.115 in the Gulf states to 0.032 at more northern locations. These findings indicate that better resistance management practices are urgently needed to sustain efficacy the of corn and cotton that produce Vip3Aa

What determines cell size?

AbstractFirst paragraph (this article has no abstract) For well over 100 years, cell biologists have been wondering what determines the size of cells. In modern times, we know all of the molecules that control the cell cycle and cell division, but we still do not understand how cell size is determined. To check whether modern cell biology has made any inroads on this age-old question, BMC Biology asked several heavyweights in the field to tell us how they think cell size is controlled, drawing on a range of different cell types. The essays in this collection address two related questions - why does cell size matter, and how do cells control it

Tracking outbreak populations of the pepper weevil Anthonomus eugenii (Coleoptera; Curculionidae) using complete mitochondrial genomes

The pepper weevil, Anthonomus eugenii, is a major pest on Capsicum species. Apart from natural spread, there is a risk of spread via international pepper trade. In the Netherlands, a pepper weevil outbreak occurred in 2012 and affected six greenhouses producing different sweet pepper varieties. The following year, a pepper weevil outbreak occurred in Italy. To trace the origin of the Dutch outbreak and to establish if the Dutch and Italian outbreaks were linked, we determined the mitogenomes of A. eugenii specimens collected at outbreak locations, and compared these with specimens from the native area, and other areas where the pest was introduced either by natural dispersal or via trade. The circular 17,257 bp A. eugenii mitogenome comprises thirteen mitochondrial genes typically found in insect species. Intra-species variation of these mitochondrial genes revealed four main mitochondrial lineages encompassing 41 haplotypes. The highest diversity was observed for specimens from its presumed native area (i.e. Mexico). The Dutch outbreak specimens represented three highly similar haplotypes, suggesting a single introduction of the pest. The major Dutch haplotype was also found in two specimens from New Jersey. As the Netherlands does not have pepper trade with New Jersey, it is likely that the specimens sampled in New Jersey and those sampled in the Netherlands originate from a shared source that was not included in this study. In addition, our analysis shows that the Italian and Dutch outbreaks were not linked. The mitochondrial genome is a useful tool to trace outbreak populations and the methodology presented in this paper could prove valuable for other invasive pest species, such as the African fruit moth Thaumatotibia leucotreta and emerald ash borer Agrilus planipennis.</p