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Genetic engineering of insect resistance in cassava
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| Coordinating organisation: | Institute of Plant Sciences |
| Description: | Cassava hornworm (Erinnyis ello) is one of the most important cassava pests in the Americas. The larvae can completely defoliate the plants and also kill young plants. Defoliation and stem damage reduce the starch quality of the roots and cause yield losses between 10% and 50%. Other cassava pests, such as mealybug (Phenacocus manihoti), green mite (Monoychellus tanajoa) and whitfly (Bemisia tabaci), also cause considerable damage to cassava crops (up to 80%). We want to study the possibility of developing a biological control system for cassava insect pest by expressing a synthetic CryIA(b) gene encoding Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) endotoxin in transgenic cassava plants. Spraying B. thuringiensis has been shown to be efficient in biological control of all larval stages of cassava hornworm. Expression of the CryIA(b) gene in transgenic cassava would thus complement the available methods for pest control in an environmentally and economically sustainable way. |
| Internet: | Projects Link |
| Start: | 1997-06-30 |
| End: | 2010-12-31 |
| Species: | cassava |
| Total number of staff: | 2 |
| Categories | |
| ARD-theme: | plant genetic resources plant breeding plant protection/IPM |
| Target country: | Colombia Egypt Nigeria Switzerland |
| Commodity: | root/tuber |
| Ecosystem: | humid tropical |
| Activity: | research |
| Registered related items | |
| Participating organisations: | 2 |
| Last editing: | 2005-11-11 13:24:08 |