A stepping stone to a career in biocontrol
Guendalina Barloggio (27) - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, Switzerland
‘At our institute I’m rearing the parasitic wasp Telenomus laeviceps, to control the cabbage moth Mamestra brassicae. To date, there is no effective biological control agent for cabbage moths. The parasitoid I’m working with, naturally occurs in many parts of Europe. In our field trials, we have been able to increase the natural parasitation rates of 5% to 70%, by mass release T. laeviceps. Now we are ready to test their efficacy in controlling the cabbage moth compared to standard insecticides applied against this pest.’
Andreas Larem (28) - Julius Kühn Institut, Germany
‘At JKI I’m characterising isolates of the Phthorimaea operculella granulovirus that are able to infect and destroy three closely related moth species causing a lot of damage in for example tomatoes and potatoes. I would like to find out what the differences are between strains of this virus. Besides bioassays that can determine the biological activity of the virus isolates towards it’s damaging host, I’m using genetic information to solve a practical question. Which strain works better in destroying the larvae of the moths? Eventually, this should lead to a biological control agent that can be sprayed on a plant, after which the viruses infect and destroy the larvae before they can do harm.’
Ina Dittler (29) - Zurich University, Switzerland
‘At the School of Life Sciences and Facility Management in Zurich, I work at the in vitro production of baculoviruses. The Lymantria dispar multicapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus is able to kill gypsy moths, one of the most important pest insects in forests and orchards. Up to date, there’s only in vivo production of this virus. Should it be possible to produce large quantities in cell cultures in the lab, we would have a potentially very specific agent to control the harmful moths without side effects to other insects. In vitro production of this virus is almost a holy grail in this field. It is potentially interesting in the biopharmaceutical field also.
Bart Vandenbossche (32)- E-nema, Germany
‘At E-nema, I’m trying to genetically improve the entomopathogenic nematode Heterorhabditis bacteriophora. That is a nematode that can effectively infect and destroy the western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera. To date, however, the prize is still higher than classic, chemical control agents. By improving for example the virulence and persistence of the nematodes, we hope to be able to use a lot less nematodes in the near future, so that we can compete financially also with chemical products.’
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