Project Number: 3625-22000-016-08
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Dec 16, 2003
End Date: Aug 31, 2008

Objective:
The purpose of this agreement is to contribute to a scientific information framework for managing insect resistance to transgenic plants by evaluating and improving methods to monitor for insect resistance. This information can provide standardized monitoring protocols to be used across the Corn Belt.

Approach:
Several methods for monitoring resistance to Bt proteins have been proposed for the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis. Two of these methods have produced the primary data the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been using for regulatory decisions regarding Bt corn: discriminating concentration assays and the F2 screen. To effectively monitor the frequency of resistance alleles in wild populations of insects, researchers must balance the concerns of statistical precision at low allelic frequencies, costs of sampling, and the organization and labor required to intensively sample many individuals or families. This effort will bring together scientists working in the area of insect resistance monitoring to improve existing methods. The final product of this work will be protocols that will be used for resistance monitoring, which will benefit the science of resistance management in general and Bt resistance in particular.