• Brassica
• Cane Toad
• Climate Change
• Coral
• Cotton bollworm
• Environmental Microbiology
• Eucalypt
• Fungal
• Human Health
• Parasites
• Rice
• Wallaby
• Wheat & Barley

 

Cotton Bollworm Genome Project

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The Project
The cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, is the number one insect pest confronting global agriculture. This species and its close relatives use over 100 species of agricultural and horticultural crop plants as hosts. Worldwide the annual control costs and production losses amount to $5 billion. The moth is resistant to most of the chemical insecticides used to control it. A deep understanding of the biology of this pest provided by a complete genome sequence would underpin the development and commercialisation of effective, safe and environmentally friendly control strategies.

Cotton Bollworm Genome Project Homepage ("Fight the Moth")

Goals/ Deliverables
This project will provide a complete catalogue of all of the moth genes and their precise molecular addresses in the genome. A talented team of scientists working all around Australia, in collaboration with international partners, would use the data to:-
1. Discover all of the insecticide resistance genes so that field resistance could be carefully monitored. This would allow insecticide use to be intelligently prescribed and, hence, minimized.
2. Develop molecular markers so that the structure and movement of moth populations can be tracked.
3. Identify all of the genes that produce detoxification enzymes that form the insect’s defence systems against insecticides
4. Find weak spots in the biology of the moth. Proteins that can be targeted with new insecticides, specific to this insect, will then be developed.

Why sequence the genome?
In the war against insect pests we lose too many battles because we fight with little intelligence. Currently, chemical insecticides are directed against poorly understood targets. The insecticides are often destroyed by the insect detoxification systems before they even reach their targets. These chemicals also kill our allies, beneficial insects that predate upon insect pests. This genome project will provide intelligent control options for Helicoverpa.

What is the benefit to Australia?
Conservative estimates indicate that this moth costs Australians $225 million every year, in terms of control costs and production losses. This project will reduce these control costs.

Helicoverpa poses a constant threat to the cotton industry in India and China. This project offers the opportunity for Australian scientists to work cooperatively with researchers in these key trading nations to create optimal control strategies.
New intelligently designed insecticides could be developed and sold into a vast global market providing a blockbuster product for Australian biotechnology. These new insecticides would be pest insect specific, having no adverse impact on the environment or human health.

Contact Information
The spokesperson for a large team of
Australian researchers behind this project is:

Associate Professor Philip Batterham
Director of the ARC Special Research Centre - CESAR
Genetics Department
Bio21 Institute of Molecular Science and Biotechnology
University of Melbourne
Victoria 3010
AUSTRALIA

PHONE: 3 8344 2363
FAX: 3 9347 5352
EMAIL: p.batterham@unimelb.edu.au
URL: http://www.fightthemoth.org