Successes and challenges of managing resistance in Helicoverpa armigera to Bt cotton in Australia

• Published in: GM crops & food Vol. 3; no. 3; p. 228
• Main Authors: Downes, Sharon, Mahon, Rod
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-07-2012
• Subjects: Animals; Australia; Bacillus thuringiensis - genetics; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Bacterial Toxins - genetics; Biological Evolution; Crops, Agricultural; Gossypium - genetics; Gossypium - parasitology; Insecticide Resistance; Insecticides; Moths - physiology; Pest Control, Biological; Plants, Genetically Modified; Transgenes; Australia
• ISSN: 2164-5701
• DOI: 10.4161/gmcr.20194

Bt cotton has been gradually released and adopted by Australian growers since 1996. It was initially deployed in Australia primarily to control the polyphagous pest Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner), which in the 1990s became increasingly difficult to control due to widespread resistance to synthetic chemical insecticides. Bt-cotton has become a key tool in a program of integrated pest management for the production system that reduces pesticide dependence and the problems associated with its use. Herein we overview the deployment of Bt cotton in Australia including its performance and the approaches used to prolong the evolution of resistance to it by H. armigera. An integral component of this approach is monitoring resistance in this pest. We outline resistance screening methods, as well as the characteristics of resistant strains of H. armigera that have been isolated from field populations, or selected in the laboratory. We then highlight the successes and challenges for Bt cotton in Australia by way of discussing adaptive resistance management in light of potential changes in resistance.