Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Monday, January 29, 2007 NCR-46 Welcome and opening remarks " -Wade French welcomes one and all to the meeting " -Minutes of 2006 meeting are accepted " -No nominations for executive at this time " -Discussion of separating NCCC46 and NC-205 " Billy Fuller offers Sioux Falls as location for 2007 meeting, Lawrence Bledsoe proposes St Louis  no decisions at this time Old business " Management guide funds are available from NCIPM Enhancement grant awarded to Joe Spencer " Ken Ostlie: Economics and Management chapters of the guide must be revised before moving forward with publication " Drafts will be given to all by Feb 1, comment requested by Feb 23. Target for completed document to Julie Todd by late March " Christian Nansen discusses option of placing interactive modules into website where final management guide will be housed, but who will manage updates and add new content " Ostlie stresses that there will be links back to each state resource, make the document readily updatable at any time " Billy mentions that an insecticide section is essential, the issue is how to update and keep current " Shields proposes to link to state-specific sites for appropriate geography-specific issues (i.e. silage vs. grain, silk clipping in sweet corn etc.) " Spencer states that $9,254 is available in the IPM-enhancement grant, waiting for the completion of the draft " Porter mentions that using Apollo for pdf, instead of Acrobat, would give options for video imbedding and improve updatability " Hibbard, Spencer, French stress that at this point, getting the design figured out is secondary  moving on to getting the guide published is key " Shields proposes formation of a committee to discuss and oversee web development Distribution, Abundance and Species Composition " Turner mentions heavy drought in South Dakota made 2006 a heavy RW year overall " Hibbard  typical RW year " Boetel  more NCRW that WCRW in ND, this is mostly qualitative data " Shields  NY state largest problem was flooding/drowning of roots " Hammond  OH, very high larval pops, western variant continues to expand range in the state based on soybean yellow sticky trapping " OH, diapausing NCRW not found as expected " Smith  Ontario: high larval pops, predominantly WCRW, predicts more next year, corn-on-corn acres are increasing " Bledsoe  IN, early May cold spell killed many seedlings, unusual early season conditions, uneven emergence, overall an average WCRW year, NCRW continue to be rare " Krupke  IN, ELISA analysis of RW gut contents indicate that this analysis is a good predictor of variant range " Spencer  IL, WCR variant into wheat, soybean, etc., as measured by movement indicates low incidence of beetles in wheat  though other IL data shows high damage in wheat after corn " Spencer  IL, high WCRW populations south of I70 for the first time, rotation-resistant continue to move west, NCRW relatively rare " Sappington  IA, WCR variant still spreading west as measured by emergence traps, NCRW are becoming more prevalent statewide from year-to-year " Wilde  KS, No formal study of RW populations, based on insecticide trials an average year " Ostlie  MN, extended diapause NCRW common throughout state, no reports of WCRW in first-year corn this year " Meinke  NE, long-term drought in west, high WCRW numbers and damage in west, more NCRW in east, no WCRW variant documented yet " NCRW are main source of problems in first-year corn " Cullen  WI, drought in NW part of state, high damage in this area. Reports of NCRW extended diapause increasing in some areas (lower 2/3 of state, Eau Claire area) " Porter proposes that efficacy data is included in the record of the meeting within its own section (in each state report), not in Management section as it currently appears " Motion is passed Behavior and Ecology " Sappington: Oviposition in non-corn habitats  collected soybean adults vs. corn adults, used microsatellite markers to search for differentiation " No structuring detected, no barriers to gene flow " Using 250 AFLP markers, compared known variant vs. non-variant " 1 marker was weakly linked, and is not diagnostic (i.e. present in both types) " Spencer: monitoring WCRW variant using QuickStix looking for soybean herbivory " Problem: using RR trait to detect, this is becoming less and less soybean-specific " No differences between # of beetles testing + for consuming soybean within soybean fields BUT significant differences when same test is run on first row of corn (order of magnitude difference) " Using Cry3Bb1 to document movement in Bt/refuge fields. Movement rates of 15-17 m/day, averaging to 16 m overall throughout season " Most females mating in refuge are teneral, but in transgenic more are completely sclerotized " Shields  NY: aerial sampling of insects, 1000 cu.ft of air sampled/minute using plane, can be applied to WCRW movement, possibly in 2008? " Krupke  movement measured by Pherocon AM traps indicates that emergence early in season peaks in refuge area, also more beetles trapped in interior vs. edge. " Corn or soybean adjacent favors more adult WCRW captured (vs. pasture, wheat etc.) " Preliminary results of movement experiments indicate male movement to calling females is highest within strip refuges, lowest when refuge is adjacent Lunch Frank Gilstrap: 2006 president of the ESA welcomed the group, spoke about TAMU research center Behavior and Ecology (contd) Mating behavior " French - Larger males in NCRW mate more than smaller males " Females mate maximally 3X (aedeagus inserted) in Petri dish, measure fecundity and oviposition on Petri dish substrate " Large male vs. small male vs. average-sized male, documenting antagonistic behaviors Mike Schwarz (Bayer) Corn Soil Insecticides: Future prospects " 79 million acres grown in 2006 " key questions: Will pyrethroid-based insecticide efficacy decrease due to spraying of variant adults? What are treatments of choice for refuge acres? " 23 million acres treated with soil insecticides in 2002, 11 million in 2006 " Foliar-applied rates have declined at similar rates " Requests a dialogue with academia to preserve old, yet effective, tools (Aztec) for use in treating refuges " A primary issue is compliance with IRM refuge standard  no documented numbers, but very low compliance Rearing: Resistant colony w. transgenic corn " Bruce Hibbard  8 generations exposure to transgenic corn, greenhouse rearing study  non-diapausing strain " Field-test of generation 6, survival on transgenic corn survived 12-fold more than unexposed colony (larval recovery only, no adult recovery) " No increase in tolerance of 3 generations selection vs. 6 generations selection " Lisa Miehle  resistant males + susceptible female and vice versa. Larval recovery of progeny indicates intermediate levels of resistance. " Similar study with removal from selection colony indicates that resistance remains even 3 generations after rearing on isoline only " Mechanisms unclear at this time Rearing: WCR non-diapausing colony " Wade French  currently rearing 17 colonies in SD, ranging from insecticide resistance, rotation resistance, wild-type etc. " B.t. resistant research colonies underway as of 2006 " Discussion of the ease with which resistant colonies can be selected for in the lab, Shields mentioned that this data should be out in the open to increase awareness of the risks of resistance " Spencer motion: to identify a committee to prepare a simple statement to EPA stating that refuge compliance is not adequate and that WCRW exhibit high levels of resistance in greenhouse studies " Meinke adds that ethanol production will hasten the development of this resistance " Motion to elect proposal-writing committee passes. Meinke, Spencer, Onstad, Shields Extended diapause " French  examining patterns of inheritance for diapause trait, mapping genes responsible for trait using microsatellite markers " Meinke  verified extended diapause in NE " Similar frequency of extended diapause to MN historical levels Other Diabrotica extended diapause " Meinke - Biological relationships of D. barberi and D. longicornis (non-pest, but can survive in corn) " Longicornis exhibits extended diapause, is it heritable/moving into barberi " Fitness of hybrids - early results suggests that the hybrids are viable (barberi males, longicornis females) " Beginning mating preference studies, field and laboratory Alternate hosts " Hibbard  crabgrass and giant foxtail interaction w/ Cry3Bb1 corn: in the field no effect of weedy fields, unless forced to move off weedy hosts (by spray with glyphosate), to be published in J. Econ. Entomol later in 2007 Genetics of Diabrotica " Sappington  genetic variation in colony (non-diapause vs. diapausing, variant vs. non etc. etc.) vs. field-collected wild-type " Found loss of variation in non-diapause line after 190+ generations in lab " Diapausing colony no different from wild type " Work with Ratcliffe at UIUC developed EST microsatellite library from WCRW heads, these are expressed in the phenotype, therefore not suitable for population studies " Found 17 microsatellites that are suitable for population studies because they are conserved " Submitted to J Heredity for 2007 publication " Meinke/Siegfried  found marker for diagnosis of cyclodiene resistance " Also searching for novel target sites for insecticides in RW gut Tuesday, January 30 2007 Management " French  ethanol production skyrocketing in 2006, more in 2007. " Discussion of the effects of acreage shifts on prevalence of the variant Future of IPM/IRM " Ostlie  discussion of the fact that if refuge is treated, then the entire area must be treated with foliar insecticide " Spraying for SBA  are significant numbers of WCRW killed during these treatments? Shift toward more preventative treatments, vs. reacting to actual infestations " How to scout fields to make treatment decisions in Bt/refuge areas? Are refuges scouted more intensely. " Most scouting methods and thresholds are obsolete, what do we focus on for future IPM systems? Suggestions: refuge deployment strategies, insect movement, sustainability of continuous corn systems " Shields discussion of nematodes in inoculative biocontrol. Heterorhabditis is effective against Diabrotica, but often not effective in clay soils Modeling of resistance " Onstad  Mentions Mitchell has modeled NCRW resistance development under extended diapause and wild type " Seed mixtures were less risky for WCRW IRM than ECB IRM (partially due to differences in dose, partially due to density dependent mortality in WCRW) " Nansen discusses the possibility of marking beetles using electrostatic fluorescent powders " Difficulty in marking sufficient numbers to recapture, possibility of artificial infestation Resistance/toxicology " Meinke/Siegfried  baseline susceptibility to clothianidin (Poncho) is very high, problem is having sufficient dose to affect field populations Pollen movement " Shields  quantifying amount of transgenic pollen that leaves field and is transported horizontally " Survival of pollen in air can be up to 6 h (if cloudy, humid) " Synchrony of silking/pollination in current hybrids mean that contamination is only likely for 1 day " 100 m above ground, find 1-7 grains/cubic meter of air sampled (significant amount for transport) " potential to move for miles, indicates that corn with traits requiring isolation cannot be grown in areas where other corn is grown Implementation/IRM Compliance Issues " Hurley  U of MN Ag. Economist, describes survey data that indicate that many growers who are planting refuge are doing so incorrectly (wrong size, location etc.), these data are for ECB refuge, collected by phone survey. Noted that a high percentage (10%) of growers indicated that they had been audited for compliance " Construction of survey questions was major hurdle to obtaining informative data " Discussion of how to determine compliance (field surveys with gene check strips vs. remote sensing of canopy differences between refuge and transgenic) IPM/IRM for non-rootworm pests: Nick Storer requests discussion of current EPA policy of treating the entire field (including transgenic) for non RW pests " Porter  spraying of refuge only vs. treating entire field. The issue is that susceptibles must be preserved, recommendation of the committee in the past has been to spray entire area. " Ostlie - Silk clipping in refuge is often more severe, possibly prompting growers to treat only in refuge " Spencer  treating the refuge does not mean you are killing off more rootworm beetles that are susceptible because of mixing and movement throughout fields Discussion of statement of refuge compliance and Bt resistance for EPA " Hurley  adding a statement of $ advantage would strengthen the statement " Shields  demonstrated yield reduction under high pressure is sufficient " Hibbard  advises using the word tolerance (vs. resistance), emphasizing that the response is increased survivorship in lab/greenhouse " Spencer/Onstad  recommend use of terms increased survival following exposure to Cry proteins " Statement-writing sub-committee agrees to re-work statement and distribute new version to entire NCCC46 committee by Wednesday January 30, AM " Porter  emphasis should not be on non-compliance, but rather upon documented biology of the insect Transgenic performance " Ostlie  comparison of Yieldgard vs. Herculex vs. Aztec (yield benefit, lodging, root damage etc.) " At most extreme example, Aztec yields 12 bu/acre less than Herculex  represents a significant dollar loss in planting refuge Chemical alternatives " Turner  review of 2006 study of clothianidin-based seed treatments on maize yield " 2004  several anecdotal reports of yield boosts with clothianidin-treated seed " 2005/06 objectives: Quantify yield enhancements, if any " under low pressure, high rate of Poncho performed well in reducing damage (SD) " in SD trials, high-rate Poncho + Force 3G led to highest yields, not significantly so " IN data: considerable damage in Poncho 1250 plot, yield was also poor in these trials " At some sites (MI, SD) an increase in yield was documented in Poncho 1250 treatments with zero rootworm pressure " Overall, the group data do not support the notion of a yield enhancement with P1250 " The spectrum of damage levels and yields suggest that in some cases, yields in Poncho treatments are greater than expected by analysis of root damage " Fuller requests permission to summarize data and move forward with manuscript development and submission " Fuller moves to proceed to ms development and submission  motion passes, unanimous " " Wilde  seed treatments (Poncho + Cruiser) yield benefits study " Estimates 75% of all corn treated with insecticide, up from 65% in 2005 and 25% in 2004 " Goal of study was focus upon non-RW areas " No yield differences across 9 locations in KS in 2005, no differences in 8 locations in KS in 2006 " Analysis of data by location results in 72 total comparisons for 2005, only 4 of 72 comparisons resulted in significant difference " Similar analysis for 2006, 64 comparisons result in 4 significant differences " Of 8 significant yield differences above, 4 were high rate of Poncho treatment, but overall no consistent pattern was documented in the study (variables: location, rainfed/irrigation, hybrid effects) " Wilde  study 2: container study (greenhouse) to evaluate same products/rates as above under greenhouse conditions " No significant difference in leaf area, root fresh weight, plant fresh weight at 1, 2 and 5-leaf stage, comparing Cruiser, Poncho and untreated " Conclusion: no enhanced growth effects observed Sampling and thresholds " Cullen  Variant sampling in southern portion of WI continues to increase, 106 fields monitored in 2006 " 10 contiguous counties of over-threshold variant counties, based upon yellow sticky trap counts " Grower surveys indicate that growers are generally unwilling to sample own fields to make treatment decisions in 1st year corn " Ostlie points out that industry may be co-opting yellow sticky trap counts to sell additional quantities of transgenic seed (i.e. using FFA to generate sales data) " Cullen  goal is to move toward reduced-cost trapping (less traps, fewer locations etc.) to encourage adoption " Working with Mitchell (economist) to develop a cost-benefit outline for trapping for the variant " " Glasser (US-EPA)  remote sensing of B.t./refuge areas " 80-90% ability to categorize transgenic vs. non-transgenic (overall) using remote sensing " analysis of infestation (ECB) was also readily apparent from these imaging techniques, preliminary results of RW infestation also encouraging " resolution between 0.5 m  1 m, flying at 2000 or 4000 feet " longer-term goal is using satellites for determining areas of concern (i.e. resistance development in the landscape) Economic thresholds " Meinke  reports that NCRW root ratings plotted vs. beetles emerging in cages (1 plant/cage) (i.e. less than 30 beetles/cage = rating of 0.25 etc) have relatively strong linear relationship Host plant resistance " Hibbard  cross of Bohn/Hibbard lines with elite (susceptible) germplasm, resulting in less damage than resistant line alone " Indicates that hybrid vigor may play a role in native resistance " Also mapping location of the genome associated with native resistance, root damage correlates with root size and root regrowth " Approaching the point where native resistance may reach US corn market within 10 years Other issues " Spencer  collected volunteer corn in soybean, all was Cry3Bb1 and RR " As triple-stack becomes more prevalent, this will become increasingly common " Islands of transgenic plants, with extreme WCR variant pressure " Porter  this also brings up the issue of isolating food corn, which cannot be GMO Final Business Meeting " Hibbard  nominates Elson Shields as secretary, motion passes unanimously " Meinke  Time and place for 2008 meeting: St. Louis and Sioux Falls presented as options. " Spencer  mentions that meeting within the NC region would benefit many extension, also moving meetings to period in the first week in February would allow more to attend " Westport Complex near St. Louis is proposed as a meeting location by Hibbard " Motion to select St. Louis as first choice is made, seconded and passed, unanimous " Proposed dates January 30 through February 3, subject to discussion with 205. Moved, seconded, and passed, unanimous. " Ostlie  rough draft of management guide by February 2, comments by February 23, working version by late March " Turner  forfeits $75 fee for plaque in lieu of paying registration fees, motion is passed, unanimous " Krupke  requests impact statements from all within 60 days of meeting for inclusion in minutes " French  management guide sub-committee for rootworm management guide: Boetel, Shields, Krupke, Nansen, Porter " Meeting adjourned at 5:30 PM