Oderlei Bernardi

Effective dominance of resistance of Spodoptera frugiperda to Bt maize and cotton varieties: implications for resistance management

The resistance of fall armyworm (FAW), Spodoptera frugiperda, has been characterized to some Cry and Vip3A proteins of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) expressed in transgenic maize in Brazil. Here we evaluated the effective dominance of resistance based on the survival of neonates from selected Bt-resistant, heterozygous, and susceptible (Sus) strains of FAW on different Bt maize and cotton varieties. High survival of strains resistant to the Cry1F (HX-R), Cry1A.105/Cry2Ab (VT-R) and Cry1A.105/Cry2Ab/Cry1F (PW-R) proteins was detected on Herculex, YieldGard VT PRO and PowerCore maize. Our Vip3A-resistant strain (Vip-R) exhibited high survival on Herculex, Agrisure Viptera and Agrisure Viptera 3 maize. However, the heterozygous from HX-R × Sus, VT-R × Sus, PW-R × Sus and Vip-R × Sus had complete mortality on YieldGard VT PRO, PowerCore, Agrisure Viptera, and Agrisure Viptera 3, whereas the HX-R × Sus and Vip-R × Sus strains survived on Herculex maize. On Bt cotton, the HX-R, VT-R and PW-R strains exhibited high survival on Bollgard II. All resistant strains survived on WideStrike, but only PW-R and Vip-R × Sus survived on TwinLink. Our study provides useful data to aid in the understanding of the effectiveness of the refuge strategy for Insect Resistance Management of Bt plants.

Resistência de genótipos de milho para cultivo em várzeas subtropicais à lagarta-do-cartucho Spodoptera frugiperda

Spodoptera frugiperda e uma das pragas com elevado potencial para causar perdas economicas na cultura do milho, no ecossistema de varzeas subtropicais. Com o objetivo de identificar fontes de resistencia, foi avaliado, em laboratorio, o desenvolvimento de S. frugiperda em nove genotipos de milho. Cem lagartas recem-eclodidas foram individualizadas em tubos de vidro, contendo porcoes de folhas de milho, mantidos a temperatura de 25±1°C, umidade relativa de 70±10% e fotofase de 14h. Avaliaram-se a duracao e a viabilidade das fases de larva e pupa, o peso de larvas e de pupas e a mortalidade larval. Dentre os genotipos avaliados, destacaram-se o BRS Missoes-B e o BR 111 VI Sel. Dent C, os quais afetaram, respectivamente, o desenvolvimento da fase de larva e de pupa.

Ocorrência de Euetheola humilis (Burmeister) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) em Eucalyptus saligna Smith (Myrtaceae), no Rio Grande do Sul

Euetheola humilis (Burmeister) is a scarabaeid pest of rice, sugarcane and corn cultures, that attacks the crops during both larval and adult phase. The occurrence of E. humilis was observed in a forest area with Eucalyptus saligna Smith, from Votorantim Celulose & Papel (Fazenda Aroeira), in the Municipality of Candiota, Rio Grande do Sul State. Plants approximately 1m high were damaged by E. humilis adult insects near the stem base, what unraveled its cortex and led some of them to death. The attack was verified in about 10% of the eucalypts plants, in an area of approximately 30 ha.

Inheritance and fitness costs of Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) resistance to spinosad in Brazil: Resistance to spinosad in Spodoptera frugiperda

BACKGROUND Spodoptera frugiperda is a pest of economically important crops in South America. In Brazil, this species is considered the most destructive pest of maize. Use of spinosyn insecticides in insect resistance management (IRM) has been one strategy to control this pest. In this study, we selected a strain of S. frugiperda resistant to spinosad and evaluated the inheritance and fitness costs of the resistance. RESULTS Estimated LC50 (concentration required to kill 50% of larvae) values were 0.011 and 9.80 µg cm-2 for the spinosad-susceptible (Sus) and -resistant (Spin-res) strains, respectively. This represents an 890-fold resistance ratio. LC50 values for reciprocal crosses were 0.18 and 0.14 µg cm-2 , indicating that resistance to spinosad is an autosomal incompletely recessive trait. Backcrosses of the F1 progeny from reciprocal crosses with the parental Spin-res strain showed a polygenic effect. The estimated minimum number of independent segregations was ∼ 2.45, indicating that resistance to spinosad is associated with multiple genes. In greenhouse assays, third-instar larvae from the Spin-res strain showed >92% survival on spinosad-treated maize. By contrast Sus and reciprocal crosses exhibited 0% and <5% survival, respectively, indicating that resistance is recessive. Life history studies to investigate the fitness cost of resistance revealed a 41% reduction in the rate of survival to adulthood and a 49% lower reproductive rate in the Spin-res strain compared with the Sus strain. CONCLUSIONS The autosomal, incompletely recessive and polygenic resistance to spinosad in S. frugiperda and the fitness costs associated with this resistance can be exploited in IRM strategies to preserve the lifetime of spinosad for control of S. frugiperda in Brazil.

Eficiência e efeitos subletais de nim sobre Bonagota salubricola (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of control and sublethal effects of neem insecticide (10 g.L-1 of azadirachtin A) to the leafroller Bonagota salubricola at laboratory condition. In the bioassays, it was used an azadirachtin based product (NeemAzal-T/S®) at concentrations of 0.06%, 0.09%, 0.12%, 0.16%, 0.18% and 0.20% of the commercial product (c.p.) and a control (distilled water). The artificial diet was cut in cubes and immersed in the syrups of the respective product concentrations, soon afterwards recently-emerged caterpillars were transferred to glass tubes, containing the diet cubes treated. When the artificial diet was treated with a concentration of 0.20% of the commercial product, the mortality was 100% at the 6th day after inoculation. Additionally, concentrations of 0.16% and 0.18% extended the larval stages, reduced pupae viability and negatively affected the fecundity of the insect.