Barcodes to control insects

Barcodes may be a familiar sight on supermarket shelves but in the scientific world, the Agricultural Research Service is using similar 'DNA barcodes' to help monitor insects that threaten crops.

DNA barcodes are being developed as part of a worldwide effort to catalogue life on Earth. Scientists sequence part of the insect's genome and produce a barcode of it which can be compared with the sequenced DNA of other related species.

However, at the Invasive Insect Biocontrol and Behavior Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, entomologist Matthew Greenstone is using DNA barcodes in a more unusual way: to identify insect predators best equipped to control the Colorado potato beetle. The Colorado potato beetle damages not only potatoes but also tomatoes and peppers and is known for developing resistance to any pesticides.

Mr Greenstone is using barcodes to learn how quickly different predators digest the Colorado potato beetle. Previous studies have analysed the gut contents of predator insects to evaluate their ability to control pests. But predators eat and digest prey at different rates, so simple gut analysis is not an accurate way to compare predator effectiveness. Using barcoding helps to factor in how quickly different predatory insects actually digest the Colorado potato beetle. Read more...

 

 

Media contact: Dennis O'Brien, USDA-ARS, 5601 Sunnyside Ave., Beltsville, MD 20705-5129; (301) 504-1624

A full article was originally published in the April 2012 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.

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