The United States of America As Represented by the Secretary of

United States of America, As Represented by the Secretary of Agriculture

Ashok K Raina

Vikram N Vakharia

Maureen S Wright

Howard Jaffe

Alan R Lax

Robert F Leclerc

Jean R Adams

Thomas G Kempe

Timothy G Kingan

Alates of the Formosan subterranean termite (FST),Shiraki, collected after swarming in 2002 died within 48 hrs, and the cadavers were visibly infected with a fungus. Fungi were picked from the cadavers, transferred to media and ultimately isolated to purity. A single fungal isolate, C4-B, taxonomically identified as(Metschnikoff), was found to cause rapid mortality of FST alates. This is the first report of a biological control agent for termite alates. Strain C4-B was more lethal to both alates and workers when compared tostrain ESC1, marketed as the termite biocontrol agent BioBlast&#xae;. 100% of FST alates exposed to C4-B spores (10spores/&#x3bc;l) were killed in 3 days. Field studies where C4-B spores were dispersed on grassy lawns resulted in 100% mortality of alates by day 5.

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Recombinant baculoviruses were prepared which contain sequences expressing peptide hormones which cause lack of feeding in Helicoverpa zea (corn earworm) and related pestw. The peptides were isolated from H. zea and identified as helicokinins. When present in sufficient amounts in the insect, weight and water loss and the eventual death of the insect occurs.

Recombinant baculovirus and its use as a biocontrol agent for crop pests

Helicoverpa species constitute the most important group of crop pests throughout the world, and scientists have been pursuing the development of biocontrol agents effective for the control of these pests. A virus, the gonad specific virus (GSV), has been discovered which serves this purpose by infecting Helicoverpa species and generally rendering the insects sterile. Those insects which do not become sterile on infection act as carriers of the virus, spreading it among the insect population and producing infected progeny.

Gonad-specific virus which causes sterility in the corn earworm,

A polypeptide having the property of rendering a female Helicoverpa zea moth non-receptive to mating was isolated from the reproductive tract of the male moth. The peptide is transferred from the male to the female during mating and causes a depletion of the female sex pheromone thereby resulting in a decline in sexual attractiveness for at least 24 hours. The peptide is referred to as pheromonostatic peptide, or PSP. It is a basic peptide having 57 amino acid residues, a molecular weight of 6617 daltons and contains one pair of cysteine residues in a disulfide linkage.

Pheromonostatic peptide used to disrupt mating of the corn earworm,

A pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide (Hez-PBAN) hormone, controlling sex pheromone production in moths and controlling melanizing in larvae, was isolated from the brain-suboesophageal ganglion complexes of adult corn earworm Heliothis zea. Hez-PBAN has 33 amino acide residues and a molecular weight of 3900; its amino acid sequence is unique among the fully characterized peptide hormones. Synthetic PBAN and related structures induced production of sex pheromone in ligated H. zea females and other moth species and melanization in larvae that resulted in morphological changes or death.

Growing community of inventors

Beltsville, MD, United States of America

Ashok K Raina