Fearless Aphids Ignore Warnings
August 6, 2010| |
Aphids, the sap sucking pest of many agricultural crops may now be controlled effectively through modern biotechnology and the use of its natural predator, the ladybug. Genetically-engineered Arabidopsis thaliana that produce the alarm pheromone beta-farnesene, the compound that warns aphids of existing predators, was developed by Georg Jande, an associate scientist at Cornell and Boyce Thomson Institute. Aphids that feed on these GM plants get used to the pheromone, and after three generations of feeding no longer respond to the compound, thus, they are more exposed and vulnerable to the predators.
The research published in the online edition of PNAS also revealed that GM plant fed aphids did not have any altered gene expression response compared to normal aphids which have been exposed to beta farnesene for 15 minutes. This result indicates that the signaling pathway of the habituated aphids was altered. This basic study could open more possibilities in controlling aphid pests.
Details of the news story can be viewed at http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Aug10/AphidsJander.html
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