Insects (Jun 2023)
Extended Sentinel Monitoring of <i>Helicoverpa zea</i> Resistance to Cry and Vip3Aa Toxins in Bt Sweet Corn: Assessing Changes in Phenotypic and Allele Frequencies of Resistance
- Galen P. Dively,
- Tom P. Kuhar,
- Sally V. Taylor,
- Helene Doughty,
- Kristian Holmstrom,
- Daniel O. Gilrein,
- Brian A. Nault,
- Joseph Ingerson-Mahar,
- Anders Huseth,
- Dominic Reisig,
- Shelby Fleischer,
- David Owens,
- Kelley Tilmon,
- Francis Reay-Jones,
- Pat Porter,
- Jocelyn Smith,
- Julien Saguez,
- Jason Wells,
- Caitlin Congdon,
- Holly Byker,
- Bryan Jensen,
- Chris DiFonzo,
- William D. Hutchison,
- Eric Burkness,
- Robert Wright,
- Michael Crossley,
- Heather Darby,
- Tom Bilbo,
- Nicholas Seiter,
- Christian Krupke,
- Craig Abel,
- Brad S. Coates,
- Bradley McManus,
- Billy Fuller,
- Jeffrey Bradshaw,
- Julie A. Peterson,
- David Buntin,
- Silvana Paula-Moraes,
- Katelyn Kesheimer,
- Whitney Crow,
- Jeffrey Gore,
- Fangneng Huang,
- Dalton C. Ludwick,
- Amy Raudenbush,
- Sebastian Jimenez,
- Yves Carrière,
- Timothy Elkner,
- Kelly Hamby
Affiliations
- Galen P. Dively
- Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Tom P. Kuhar
- Department of Entomology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24060, USA
- Sally V. Taylor
- Department of Entomology, Virginia Tech, Suffolk, VA 23434, USA
- Helene Doughty
- Virginia Tech ESAREC/Entomology, Painter, VA 23420, USA
- Kristian Holmstrom
- Pest Management Office, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
- Daniel O. Gilrein
- LIHREC, Cornell University, Riverhead, NY 11901, USA
- Brian A. Nault
- Department of Entomology, Cornell AgriTech, Geneva, NY 14456, USA
- Joseph Ingerson-Mahar
- Rutgers Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Rutgers University, Bridgeton, NJ 08302, USA
- Anders Huseth
- Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, NC State University, Raleigh, NC 27601, USA
- Dominic Reisig
- Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, NC State University, Plymouth, NC 27962, USA
- Shelby Fleischer
- Department of Entomology, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
- David Owens
- Cooperative Extension, Carvel REC, University of Delaware, Georgetown, DE 19947, USA
- Kelley Tilmon
- Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Wooster, OH 44691, USA
- Francis Reay-Jones
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Clemson University, Florence, SC 29501, USA
- Pat Porter
- Department of Entomology, AgriLife Research and Extension Center, Texas A&M University, Lubbock, TX 79401, USA
- Jocelyn Smith
- Department of Plant Agriculture, University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
- Julien Saguez
- CEROM, 740 Chemin Trudeau, Saint-Mathieu-de-Beloeil, QC J3G 0E2, Canada
- Jason Wells
- New Brunswick Department of Agriculture, Sussex, NB E4E 5L8, Canada
- Caitlin Congdon
- Perennia Food and Agriculture, Kentville, NS B4N 1J5, Canada
- Holly Byker
- Department of Plant Agriculture, University of Guelph, Winchester, ON N1G 2W1, Canada
- Bryan Jensen
- Arlington Agricultural Research Station, University of Wisconsin, WI 53706, USA
- Chris DiFonzo
- Department of Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
- William D. Hutchison
- Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55455, USA
- Eric Burkness
- Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55455, USA
- Robert Wright
- Department of Entomology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, NE 68588, USA
- Michael Crossley
- Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19711, USA
- Heather Darby
- Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
- Tom Bilbo
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Clemson University, Charleston, SC 29414, USA
- Nicholas Seiter
- Illinois Extension, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61820, USA
- Christian Krupke
- Department of Entomology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47906, USA
- Craig Abel
- USDA-ARS Corn Insects and Crop Genetics Research, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
- Brad S. Coates
- USDA-ARS Corn Insects and Crop Genetics Research, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
- Bradley McManus
- South Dakota State, Brookings, SD 57006, USA
- Billy Fuller
- South Dakota State, Brookings, SD 57006, USA
- Jeffrey Bradshaw
- Panhandle Research and Extension Center, Scottsbluff, NE 69361, USA
- Julie A. Peterson
- West Central Research and Extension Center, University of Nebraska, North Platte, NE 69101, USA
- David Buntin
- Griffin Campus, University of Georgia, Griffin, GA 30223, USA
- Silvana Paula-Moraes
- UF/IFAS West Florida Research and Education Center, Jay, FL 32565, USA
- Katelyn Kesheimer
- Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
- Whitney Crow
- Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology and Plant Pathology, Delta Research and Extension Center, Mississippi State University, Stoneville, MS 39762, USA
- Jeffrey Gore
- Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology and Plant Pathology, Delta Research and Extension Center, Mississippi State University, Stoneville, MS 39762, USA
- Fangneng Huang
- Department of Entomology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA
- Dalton C. Ludwick
- Department of Entomology, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Corpus Christi, TX 78404, USA
- Amy Raudenbush
- Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Wooster, OH 44691, USA
- Sebastian Jimenez
- PEI Department of Agriculture and Land, Charlotte, PE C1A 7N8, Canada
- Yves Carrière
- Department of Entomology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
- Timothy Elkner
- Southeast Research and Extension Center, Landisville, PA 17538, USA
- Kelly Hamby
- Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/insects14070577
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 14,
no. 7
p. 577
Abstract
Transgenic corn and cotton that produce Cry and Vip3Aa toxins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are widely planted in the United States to control lepidopteran pests. The sustainability of these Bt crops is threatened because the corn earworm/bollworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie), is evolving a resistance to these toxins. Using Bt sweet corn as a sentinel plant to monitor the evolution of resistance, collaborators established 146 trials in twenty-five states and five Canadian provinces during 2020–2022. The study evaluated overall changes in the phenotypic frequency of resistance (the ratio of larval densities in Bt ears relative to densities in non-Bt ears) in H. zea populations and the range of resistance allele frequencies for Cry1Ab and Vip3Aa. The results revealed a widespread resistance to Cry1Ab, Cry2Ab2, and Cry1A.105 Cry toxins, with higher numbers of larvae surviving in Bt ears than in non-Bt ears at many trial locations. Depending on assumptions about the inheritance of resistance, allele frequencies for Cry1Ab ranged from 0.465 (dominant resistance) to 0.995 (recessive resistance). Although Vip3Aa provided high control efficacy against H. zea, the results show a notable increase in ear damage and a number of surviving older larvae, particularly at southern locations. Assuming recessive resistance, the estimated resistance allele frequencies for Vip3Aa ranged from 0.115 in the Gulf states to 0.032 at more northern locations. These findings indicate that better resistance management practices are urgently needed to sustain efficacy the of corn and cotton that produce Vip3Aa.
Keywords
- corn earworm
- bollworm
- resistance monitoring
- <i>Bacillus thuringiensis</i> toxins
- phenotypic and allele resistance frequency
