Dr. Nauen is a Bayer CropScience Research Fellow working in Monheim, Germany. He is is the recipient of the 2014 ACS International Award for Research in Agrochemicals. He is internationally recognized for his research in insect toxicology and resistance, which has focused on insecticide mode of action and insecticide and acaricide resistance mechanisms and management.
Oilseed rape (Brassica napus) is a crop of global economic importance. Particularly in Europe, winter oilseed rape cultivation exploded in the 1990s, and it is now grown on several million hectares representing 30% of the worldwide production. Along with the expansion of winter oilseed rape acreage in Europe, coleopteran pests also became more widespread, leading to an annual invasion of this crop by billions of beetles of the genus Meligethes (pollen beetle). Over the years this European mega pest developed widespread, high metabolic P450-driven resistance to a major chemical class of insecticides, the pyrethroids. Although new modes of action have been introduced for Meligethes control, selection pressure by pyrethroids remains high for various reasons. The paper reviews ten years of research on molecules, monitoring, mechanisms and management conducted to investigate a remarkable case of resistance evolution that has spread throughout an entire continent. From both fundamental and applied aspects it is an exciting case study exemplifying both failure and success in insecticide resistance management in modern applied entomology.
A genomic approach to understanding insecticide resistance in the peach potato aphid, Myzus persicaeDr. Chris Bass, Rothamsted Research
Dr. Bass is a Principal Research Scientist at Rothamsted Research in United Kingdom working on metabolic resistance to xenobiotics in a range of important crop pests and beneficial insects. He received a degree in Biology from University of Nottingham his Ph.D. in insect molecular biology from Rothamstead Resarch/Nottingham University in 2004. His research focuses on characterising the mechanisms of insecticide resistance in agricultural and human health pests using a range of molecular and genomic approaches, and the relationship between insecticide resistance and host adaptation.
The peach potato aphid, Myzus persicae is the most economically important aphid pest worldwide. This species is globally distributed and highly polyphagous with a host range of over 400 species including many economically important crop plants. The intensive use of insecticides to control this species over many years has led to populations that are resistant to almost all classes of insecticide. Work spanning >40 years has shown that M. persicae has a remarkable potential for rapid adaptive change with at least seven mechanisms of resistance described in this species to date. The remarkable array of novel resistance mechanisms, including several ‘first examples’, that have evolved in this species represents an important case study for the development of insecticide resistance and also rapid adaptive change in insects more generally. I will outline the insights study of this topic has provided on the evolution of resistance mechanisms, the selectivity of insecticides, and the link between resistance and host plant adaptation with a particular emphasis on recent work elucidating the molecular basis of resistance to neonicotinoid insecticides.
