As pests are an important factor in reducing crop yields, pest control is measure preventing reductions yields. With the aim of ending use chemical pesticides, biological and genetically modified methods now considered more reasonable strategies. The bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) can produce crystal proteins that have specific toxicity to lepidopteran insects, so it has been applied as ...

The striped stemborer (SSB), Chilo suppressalis Walker, 1863 is a widely distributed pest of the rice agroecosystem. It bores and feeds inside the stalks of the rice plant during larval stage using its strong mandibles. Host-plant resistance has played a very important role in the management of this pest however; many cultivated types have succumbed to infestation even those with hard stems. Si...

Octopamine, the invertebrate counterpart of adrenaline and noradrenaline, plays a key role in regulation of many physiological and behavioral processes in insects. It modulates these functions through binding to specific octopamine receptors, which are typical rhodopsin-like G-protein coupled receptors. A cDNA encoding a seven-transmembrane receptor was cloned from the nerve cord of the rice st...