House flies (Musca domestica L.) have resisted human attempts to control them since antiquity, and the global problem of fly resistance to conventional insecticides has resulted in renewed interest in biopesticides as alternative management tools. Entomopathogenic nematodes such as Steinernema and Heterorhabditis spp. and their associated symbionts are virulent for fly larvae in certain substra...

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) production and storage are limited by numerous constraints. Insect pests often the most destructive. However, resource-constrained smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) do little to manage pests. Where farmers use a control strategy, it typically relies on chemical pesticides, which have adverse effects wildlife, crop pollinators, natural enemies, mammals, de...

Recent predictions of growth in human populations and food supply suggest that there will be a need to substantially increase food production in the near future. One possible approach to meeting this demand, at least in part, is the control of pests and diseases, which currently cause a 30-40% loss in available crop production. In recent years, strategies for controlling pests and diseases have...

Almost one-third of crop yields are lost every year due to microbial alterations and diseases. The main control strategy to limit these losses is the use of an array of chemicals active against spoilage and unwanted pathogenic microorganisms. Their massive use has led to extensive environmental pollution, human poisoning and a variety of diseases. An emerging alternative to this chemical approa...

A simplified assay was devised to evaluate the response of Tenebrio molitor larvae to potential insect control products. The assay incorporates punched disks of flattened whole-grain bread placed in 96-well plates, with treatments applied topically, and neonate larvae added to each well. To evaluate the method, increasing doses of the Bacillus thuringiensis Cry3Aa protoxin were added as a suspe...

Biopesticides can be effective in controlling their target pest. However, research regarding allergenicity and asthma development is limited. We compared the ability of fungal biopesticide Metarhizium anisopliae (MACA) and house dust mite (HDM) extracts to induce allergic responses in BALB/c mice. The extracts were administered by intratracheal aspiration at doubling doses (2.5-80 μg protein) 4...

Melanins can be obtained by chemical and microbiological synthesis, or by extraction from animal and plant tissues. One of the major problems in studying melanins, is the lack of adequate methods for the isolation of pure melanin pigments. Remarkably, little is known about the structures of melanins, despite their abundance in the global biomass. This is due to the inability of current biochemi...

Greenhouse nursery production represents a large and growing industry. In recent years there has been a shift both toward the use of soilless media and integrated pest management. Application of entomopathogens such as nematodes, fungi, and bacteria against soil-dwelling insect pests is a sustainable alternative to insecticide centered control programs. Soilless media (peat, coir, or bark-based...

The advent of the “Green Revolution” was a great success in significantly increasing crop productivity. However, it involved high ecological costs terms excessive use synthetic agrochemicals, raising concerns about agricultural sustainability. Indiscriminate pesticides resulted environmental degradation, development pest resistance, and possible dangers to variety nontarget species (including p...