Cooperative Research and Development Agreements

...With Exelixis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., South San Francisco, CA, to further develop a mobile genetic element called piggyBac that can move between chromosomes and genetically change insects. ARS scientists are testing piggyBac in the Indianmeal moth (Plodia interpunctella, a major stored-product insect pest) and the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster). The piggyBac transposable element was discovered by a Notre Dame University scientist in 1985. It could help scientists mark insect populations for better monitoring of populations in products. The technology will also allow researchers to develop new biologically based pesticides by providing a means to mark and isolate genes in pest insects. This should lead to the identification of new, highly effective crop protection agents. In addition, this partnership should provide a foundation for new tools for advancing genetic research on other agriculturally important insect pests.

Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, Gainesville, FL
Paul Shirk, (352) 374-5720, pshirk@gainesville.usda.ufl.edu

... With Tréce, Inc., of Salinas, CA, to commercialize an insect-feeding attractant containing sustained- or controlled-release formulas to help wipe out adult agricultural pests before they can reproduce. The idea is to lure the adult insects into a trap or an area where they’ll gorge on a toxicant combined with a feeding stimulant. In the south, large numbers of adult corn earworm moths feast on corn before they move on to damage cotton or migrate into northern corn fields. These pests--which also attack sorghum, peanuts, lettuce, tomatoes, and peppers--cost farmers about $2 billion a year in losses and control costs. Once lured to an area or trap, the insects will “pig-out” on the toxic dish so that only a small helping is needed to kill them. The technology is aimed at reducing pesticide spraying and saving beneficial insects that may otherwise be killed with pesticide spraying. ARS has applied for a patent on the attractant. (PATENT APPLICATION 09/166,655)

Areawide Pest Management Research, College Station, TX
Juan Lopez, (409) 260-9351, j-lopez@tamu.edu

...With Dow AgroSciences, Indianapolis, IN, to develop and test a bait-insecticide combination to control fruit fly pests, including the Mediterranean and Mexican fruit flies. The insecticide, called spinosad, is a biologically derived product which is toxic to insects that eat it but harmless to humans. The baits attract specific insects. Spinosad poses less risk than most insecticides to mammals, birds, fish, and beneficial insects. To further reduce risks to nontarget species and to make more effective use of spinosad, the scientists will test formulations that include Solbait, an ARS-developed bait consisting of hydrolyzed, spray-dried protein and inert ingredients. Solbait is now registered for emergency use in the control/eradication of fruit flies in Florida Application technologies will be researched on caged insects at field sites in Texas, Washington, Michigan, Massachusetts, Maine, Mexico, Guatemala and Brazil.

Crop Quality and Fruit Insects Research, Weslaco, TX
Robert L. Mangan, (956) 565-2647, mangan@pop.tamu.edu

…With Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, and Site Specific Technology Development Group (SST), Inc., also in Stillwater, to develop a computerized "decision support system" for using integrated pest management (IPM) to control greenbugs in wheat. The greenbug, an aphid that seriously damages wheat, is one of the most important insect pests of wheat in the Southern Plains region. During severe outbreaks, economic losses to wheat growers in the region exceed $250 million a year. ARS scientists will coordinate field studies on yield loss and greenbug population dynamics. Then they will formulate and validate the necessary computer simulation models. Computer programmers at OSU and SST will develop the decision support system. ARS scientists will help develop and validate the system. OSU will work with cooperating farmers and crop consultants to evaluate it under field conditions. SST will provide software integration expertise and make the system available to users. Improved IPM practices for the greenbug would greatly reduce monetary losses caused by the pest.

Plant Science and Water Conservation Laboratory, Stillwater, OK
Norman Elliott, (405) 624-4141, ext. 227, nelliott@pswcrl.ars.usda.gov

Licenses

A half dozen companies now have licenses to sell CD-II, a crested wheatgrass that ARS and Utah State University researchers developed for livestock and wildlife grazing. CD-II also helps prevent soil erosion. Leafy, vigorous, and tolerant of drought, insects and diseases, CD-II crested wheatgrass is a results of 11 years of plant breeding and testing. A perennial, CD-II is well adapted to the semiarid rangelands of states in the Intermountain region and Northern Great Plains that get 10 to 16 inches of precipitation a year. The grass is suitable for planting at elevations up to 6,000 feet. It is related to Hycrest, another crested wheatgrass from ARS, but CD-II is leafier and produces more growth in early spring. However, because CD-II becomes dormant and less palatable in midsummer, it needs to be planted in combination with other grasses and shrubs that can provide forage for that time of the year. Round Butte Seed Growers, Inc., of Culver, OR, and Wheatland Seed, Inc., of Brigham City, UT, sold CD-II seed for the first time in 1998. Big Sky Wholesale Seeds, Inc., of Shelby, MT, plans to begin selling CD-II this year, as do Rainier Seeds, Inc., Port Orchard, WA, and Newfield Seeds Company, Ltd., Nipawin, Saskatchewan, Canada. Grassland West Company, Clarkston, WA, will begin marketing CD-II in 2000.

Forage and Range Research Laboratory, Logan, UT
Kay H. Asay, (435) 797-3069, khasay@cc.usu.edu

...To Medicago inc., Québec City, Québec, Canada, to introduce genes into the pollen of alfalfa plants to “pharm” them for human medicines. This is the latest sublicense emerging from a series of research agreements with BTG International Inc., Gulph Mills, PA, since 1993. More potential sublicenses are being evaluated for other crops and uses. An agreement with BTG resulted in ARS patenting the technique, pollen electrotransformation. It uses normal pollination instead of other gene-engineering techniques. This eliminates the time-consuming and costly process of nourishing gene- engineered cells into whole, seed-bearing plants. In the ARS technique, pollen is given an electric shock in the presence of the new gene that scientists want to transfer. This causes the gene to enter the pollen cells and become part of their genetic library. It offers the promise of a convenient, economical, and commercially valuable procedure for rapidly producing genetically engineered plants. ARS and BTG scientists worked together to successfully put the technology into practice for tobacco, corn, and alfalfa. Under an agreement with BTG, ARS scientists, working with scientists at American Cyanamid, Princeton, NJ, are evaluating experimental soybeans, sugar beets and other plants to see if they possess traits the scientists earlier attempted to transfer with the pollen technique. Okanagan Biotechnology, Inc., Summerland, British Columbia, Canada, will use the pollen technique to transfer genes into cherry, peach, nectarine, apricot, and plum trees to inhibit fruit browning. Sanford Scientific, Inc., another earlier sublicensee, is working to develop ornamental plants for more eye appeal, less need for pesticide, and other desirable traits. (PATENT 5,629,183)

Climate Stress Laboratory, Beltsville, MD
James A. Saunders, (301) 504-7477, saund10449@aol.com
Soybean and Alfalfa Research Laboratory, Beltsville, MD
Benjamin F. Matthews, (301) 504-5730, bmatthew@asrr.arsusda.gov

...To Intervet, Inc., Millsboro, DE, to produce the first approved, modified live fish vaccine, which may be commercially available in the spring of 2000. The ARS-developed vaccine protects young channel catfish against Enteric septicemia (ESC), a major catfish disease that costs farmers as much as $60 million a year in losses. This new vaccine, a live organism rendered unable to cause disease, will help the catfish industry solve a key problem and will give producers a more cost-effective way to raise healthy fish for consumers. The vaccine can be used on fish 7 days after hatching and older. Seven days is the youngest age at which catfish have been vaccinated to prevent infection. It can also be given by bath immersion on the trucks that take young fry to ponds, or in tanks at the hatchery. The vaccine prevents infection caused by the bacterium Edwardsiella ictaluri. ESC is also called “hole in the head,” since it is characterized by lesions and holes in the fish’s cranium, as well as by a bright red color at the base of the gills and belly areas. Previously, producers had to give antibiotics in feed to control the disease, which wasn’t practical because sick fish don’t eat. Also, over time, the ESC bacterium begins to develop resistance to the antibiotics. The vaccine should provide lifelong protection. In field studies, it reduced catfish mortality by 80 percent. E. septicemia accounts for 70 percent of disease losses in catfish. ESC has never been associated with human infection. (PATENT APPLICATION 09/053,261)

Fish Diseases and Parasites Research Laboratory, Auburn, AL
Phillip H. Klesius/Craig A. Shoemaker, (334) 887-4526, klesiph@vetmed.auburn.edu/cshoemak@acesag.auburn.edu