Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

2010 Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Multi-State Regional Research Committee NC-205 Ecology and Management of European Corn Borer and Other Lepidopteran Pests of Corn

As recorded by Thomas E. Hunt, secretary and acting chair.

Madison, Wisconsin January 24-26, 2010 Monona Terrace Conference Center Hilton Madison Monona Terrace 9 East Wilson Street, Madison, WI 53703 (608) 255-5100.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Chair of the NC-205 committee, Dennis Calvin, was absent. Thomas Hunt, secretary chaired the meeting and took minutes. Meeting began at 8:30 AM.

Local Arrangement Announcements Eileen Cullen indicated registration fee would be $100 for the NC205 meeting, $150 if you also attended the NCCC46/NC205 joint meeting, payable to the University of Wisconsin.

Time and Place and Nominating Committees established Pat Porter and Andy Michel volunteered to be the T and P Committee. It was suggested NC205 meet in Columbus, Ohio in 2011. Rick Hellmich and Charles Mason volunteered to be on the Nominating Committee.

NCR 327 Progress Charles Mason indicated THE Bt corn section needs work. We need to deal with the rapid change in Bt technology, for example, the recent deployment of stacked hybrids. The electronic version will handle changes well, but we need to decide how to discuss change in the hard copy document. Pat Porter suggested we deal primarily with why changes will occur. We need to remember a main audience is farmers and consultants, and develop our content for those audiences. A subcommittee was established to develop the IRM extension materials. Members are Tracy Baute (chair), Pat Porter, Rick Hellmich, Eileen Cullen, and Jocelyn Smith. The timeline for the NC327 publication is to begin the final editing in 2-3 months, insert illustrations, and initiate publication process. The goal is for the document to be in the publication mill before October 2010, hopefully published by October or shortly thereafter.

Recap of Activities and Influence Galen Dively noted that more attention is being paid to effect of Bt and other pesticides on other non-targets (e.g. honey bees). Protocols are being developed to evaluate effects to aquatic organisms.

Rick Hellmich noted he was part of a working group working on protocols for evaluating other non-targets.

Charles Mason noted there are concerns that because ECB populations are in areawide decline, some believe there is no need to worry about ECB, and outbreaks could occur, causing significant economic loss. Larry Buschman noted that southwestern corn borer populations can rapidly recover from declines.

Rick Hellmich and other NC205 members (e.g. Blair Siegfried) participated in the 23rd International working Group on Ostrinia in Munich. There was discussion of whether NC205 could hold its annual meeting jointly with this group. NC205 members also have advised on other International arenas, including on Bt in cowpea in Africa and the Brazilian Biosafety Council.

Tom Sappington briefly updated the group on ASTAs initiative on the research on commercial products issue. Work on establishing umbrella agreements with numerous research institutions is progressing.

Tracy Baute noted that Canada is ramping-up there development and delivery of refuge information. There is general concern in Canada and the U.S. that the increasing number of transgenic hydrid options and the presence different IRM requirements is confusing farmers. News of the possible seed mixture refuge (refuge in a bag) is also causing farmers confusion and frustration.

NC205 members have been involved with IRM extension training in several Asian countries.

Fangneng Huang noted there is increasing interest in and discussion of sugarcane borer.

Blair Siegfried has been working with Malaysian researchers on Asian corn borer. It is proving to be very similar to European corn borer.

Invited Presentations Various aspects of European corn borer larval behavior was presented by members of the labs of Charles Mason and Rick Hellmich.

State Reports and Discussion, by Objective Research, extension, and outreach reports were presented by state representatives to NC-205. Discussion ranged over a variety of NC-205 objective-related topics.

5:00 PM Adjourn for Monday, January 25.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

8:00 AM Return to Committee Business P&T Committee report: A motion was made to suggest Columbus, Ohio as the 2011 location for the NC205 annual meeting. The motion was seconded and approved by NC205. They will forward that suggestion to the NCC46 Committee, as they will meet just prior to NC205.

Nominating Committee report: A motion was made to confirm Thomas Hunt as Chair, and Eileen Cullen as Secretary for the next year of NC205. The motion was seconded and approved by NC205.

Administrative Advisor Report Steve Pueppke indicated that the end of the current project is this fall. The proposal for the next 5-year cycle has been submitted. Final decision for approval will be in March.

Concerning federal funding: Although there will be an attempt to maintain formula funding, growth in funding continues to be competitive. Most funding lines are reduced. The new administrative goals for research are the same for extension.

Bob Nowierski noted that all 406 programs are integrated this fiscal year, and many AFRI programs will be integrated.

NC205 members noted that Ag is underfunded and formula funds are essential to rapid and effective response to local and regional problems.

Continuation of State Reports & Discussion

Discussion of NC-205/NCCC-46 Joint Meeting topics Tom Sappington led a discussion concerning the issue of research using commercialized transgenic seed. A paper resenting the issue is soon to be published.

5:00 PM Adjourn 2010 NC-205 Annual Meeting.

NC205 continues to coordinate meetings and research with NCC46 "Development, Optimization, and Delivery of Management Strategies for Corn Rootworms and Other Below-ground Insect Pests of Maize". Between their respective annual meetings, they hold joint meetings where issues, usually relating to transgenic technology and insect resistance management, are discussed and where representatives of various stakeholder groups (e.g. EPA, Industry, commodity groups) are invited to participate.

The results of sugarcane borer resistance allele frequency studies suggest resistance allele frequency to the three novel Bt corn technologies in sugarcane borer is very low in Louisiana, which should meets the rare initial resistance assumption of the high dose/refuge IRM strategy in this area. The results also showed that live insects recovered from the experimental Bt plants in the field were not resistant to VT triple Pro or SmartStax Bt corn.

Results of sugarcane resistance studies suggest that reductions in expressions of the three midgut aminopeptidase genes is associated with Cry1Ab resistance in D. saccharalis.

The state of Ohio was sampled for evidence of European Corn Borer (ECB) and Western Bean Cutworm (WBC). Where located, infestation level and damage to corn was recorded. Results from our surveys were disseminated through the Ohio State University Extension Agronomic Crops Newsletter, and our newly developed OSU Agronomic Crop Insects website (http://entomology.osu.edu/ag/). In addition, information on the biology and management of WBC, including identification, trapping and scouting protocols, was presented at various field days. These presentations have been recorded using Camtasia software and are available for viewing on our website. We also created a video for WBC scouting which can be viewed on our website. Fact sheets for both pests, as well as black cutworm, were updated and uploaded onto our website. Currently, 2 publications are in preparation regarding the biology, ecology and management, and documenting the eastward expansion.

155 traps established across Ontario and 11 in southern Quebec in 2009, monitored weekly by trained OMAFRA staff, growers, ag reps and consultants. 19 sites were in dry bean fields, 147 sites were in field corn. The western bean cutworm (WBC) trap network was very successful this year. Based on this years results, WBC is continuing to spread further north and east into Ontario and the Great Lakes Region. Many counties in Ontario and Quebec had caught WBC moths for the first time compared to trap results from 2008.

An added unforeseen outcome of th WBC trap network project was the collection and sharing of trap data from 2006 to 2009 from Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Ontario, Pennsylvania, New York and Quebec. Maps were developed for each year, depicting the range expansion of this pest into the Great Lakes Region.

Numerous peer-reviewed journal publications, extension publications, published abstracts, proceedings, and various electronic media were published by NC-205 members.

Andow, D. A., G. L. Lövei, and S. Arpaia. 2009. Cry toxins and proteinase inhibitors in transgenic plants do have non-zero effects on natural enemies in the laboratory: Rebuttal to Shelton et al., 2009. Environmental Entomology 38: 1528-1532.

Bel, Y., H.A.A. Siqueira, B.D. Siegfried, J. Ferre, and B. Escriche. 2009. Variability in the cadherin gene in Ostrinia nubilalis selected for Cry1Ab resistance. Insect Molec. Biol.39: 218-223.

Blanco, C. A., D. A. Andow, C. A. Abel, D. V. Sumerford, G. Hernandez, J. D. López, Jr., L. Adams, Astrid Groot, B. R. Leonard, R. Parker, G. Payne, O. P. Perera, A. P. Terán-Vargas and A. Azuara-Domínguez. 2009. Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ac resistance frequency in tobacco budworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Journal of Economic Entomology 102(1): 381  387.

Coates, Brad S., Nicholas J. Miller, Douglas V. Sumerford, Thomas W. Sappington, Blair D. Siegfried, Leslie C. Lewis. 2009. Comparative performance of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and microsatellite markers for the detection of population differentiation in Diabrotica virgifera virgifera (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). J. of Heredity 100: 556564.

Coates, B. S., D. V. Sumerford, R. L. Hellmich, and L. C. Lewis. 2009. Repetitive genome elements in a European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis, bacterial artificial chromosome library were indicated by bacterial artificial chromosome end sequencing and development of sequence tag site markers: implications for lepidopteran genomic research. Genome 52: 57-67.

Crespo, A.L.B., T. Spencer, A.P. Alves, R.L. Hellmich, E.E. Blankenship, L.C. Magalhaes, and B.D. Siegfried. 2009. On-plant survival and inheritance of resistance to Cry1Ab toxin from Bacillus thuringiensis in a field-derived strain of European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis. Pest Manag. Sci. 10: 1071-1081.

Hu, Y. and D. A. Andow. 2009. A technique for distinguishing virgin and mated males of Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae). Journal of Entomological Science 44:264-275.

Huang, F. 2009. Resistance to transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis crops in target insect pests: current status and prospect. Pp. 179-192. In Advances in Entomological Research: From Molecular Biology to Pest Management, eds by T.X. Liu and L. Kang, Higher Education Press, Beijing, China.

Huang, F., R. Parker, B.R. Leonard, Y. Yong, and Jin Liu. 2009. Frequency of resistance alleles to Bacillus thuringiensis-corn in Texas populations of the sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis (F.) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae). Crop Protect. 28: 174-180.

Khajuria, C., Y.C.Zhu, M-S.Chen, L.L. Buschman, R.A. Higgins, J.Yao, A.L.B. Cresop, B.D. Siegfried, S. Muthukrishnan. and K.Y. Zhu. 2009. Expressed sequence tags from larval gut of the European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis): Exploring candidate genes potentially involved in Bacillus thuringiensis toxicity and resistance. BMC Genomics 10: 286 (1-14).

Kim K.S, Bagley M.J, Brad S. Coates B.S, Richard L. Hellmich, Thomas W. Sappington. 2009. Spatial and temporal genetic analyses reveal high gene flow among European corn borer populations across the central US Corn Belt. Econ Entomol 38: 13121323.

Lawhorn, C.N., D.A. Neher, and G.P. Dively. 2009. Impact of coleopteran targeting toxin (Cry3Bb1) of Bt corn on microbially mediated decomposition. Appl. Soil Ecology 41:364-368.

Lövei, G. L., D. A. Andow and S. Arpaia. 2009. Transgenic insecticidal crops and natural enemies: a detailed review of laboratory studies. Environmental Entomology 38(2): 293-306.

Miller, Nicholas J., David L. Dorhout, Marlin E. Rice, and Thomas W. Sappington. 2009. Mitochondrial DNA Variation and Range Expansion in Western Bean Cutworm (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae): No Evidence for a Recent Population Bottleneck. Environ. Entomol. 38(1): 274-280.

Pereira, E.J.G., H.A.A. Siqueira, M. Zhuang, N.P. Storer, and B.D. Siegfried. 2009. Studies on the mechanism of Cry1F resistance in laboratory-selected European corn borer (Lepidoptera: Crambidae). J. Invert. Pathol 103: 17.

Peterson, J.A., Obrycki, J.J., Harwood, J.D. 2009. Quantification of exposure pathways in carabid food webs across multiple transgenic events. Biocontrol Science and Technology, 19, 613-625.

Prasifka, Jarrad R., Richard L. Hellmich, Andre L. B. Crespo, Blair D. Siegfried, David W. Onstad. 2009. Video-tracking and On-plant Tests Show Cry1Ab Resistance Influences Behavior and Survival of Neonate Ostrinia nubilalis Following Exposure to Bt Maize. J Insect Behav DOI 10.1007/s10905-009-9190-3.

Prasifka, J. R., R. L. Hellmich, D. V. Sumerford, and B. D. Siegfried. 2009. Bacillus thuringiensis Resistance Influences European Corn Borer (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) Larval Behavior After Exposure to Cry1Ab. J. Econ. Entomol. 102(2): 781-787.

Swan, C.M., P.D. Jensen, G.P. Dively, and W.O. Lamp. 2009. Processing of transgenic crop residues in stream ecosystems. Jour. of Appl. Ecology 46: 13041313.

Wu, X., F. Huang, B.R. Leonard, and Mukti Ghimire. 2009. Growth and development of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ab-susceptible and -resistant sugarcane borer on diet and conventional corn plants. Entomol. Exp. Appl. 133: 199207.

Wu, X., F. Huang, B.R. Leonard, and J. Ottea. 2009. Inheritance of resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ab protein in the sugarcane borer (Lepidoptera: Crambidae. J. Invertebr. Pathol. 102: 4449.

Wu, X., B.R. Leonard, Y-C Zhu, C.A. Abel, G.P. Head, and F. Huang. 2009. Susceptibility of Cry1Ab-resistant and -susceptible sugarcane borer (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) to four Bacillus thuringiensis toxins. J. Invert. Pathol. 100:29-34.

Xu, Z., F. Liu, J. Chen, F. Huang, D. A. Andow, J. Shen, Y. C. Zhu. 2009. Using an F2 screen to monitor resistance allele frequency to Bt cotton in field populations of Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Pest Management Science 65(4): 391-397.