Despite the agricultural importance of species in the Grapholitini (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), and the value of gene expression analysis for improved population management, few gene expression studies based on quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) have been conducted for this tribe. Part of the reason for this lack of information is that suitable reference genes, which are fundamental for accurate ...

The durability of a control method for plant protection is defined as the persistence of its efficacy in space and time. It depends on (i) the selection pressure exerted by it on populations of plant pathogens and (ii) on the capacity of these pathogens to adapt to the control method. Erosion of effectiveness of conventional plant protection methods has been widely studied in the past. For exam...

Incidences of potential per os Cydia pomonella granulovirus (CpGV) transmission within a large codling moth colony were identified. CpGV was detected in the water which is used to wash egg sheets. When pre-neonates were extracted from eggs prior to emergence and tested for the presence of CpGV, 40% were found to carry amounts of CpGV detectable by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay, sugges...

The use of Cydia pomonella granulovirus (CpGV) isolates as biological control agents of codling moth (CM) larvae is important in organic and integrated pome fruit production worldwide. The commercially available isolates CpGV-0006, CpGV-R5, and CpGV-V15 have been selected for the control of CpGV resistant CM populations in Europe. In infection experiments, CpGV-0006 and CpGV-R5 were able to bre...

Where previously described, patterns of sex chromosome dosage compensation in the Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) have several unusual characteristics. Other female-heterogametic (ZW/ZZ) species exhibit female Z-linked expression that is reduced compared with autosomal expression and male Z expression. In the Lepidoptera, however, Z expression typically appears balanced between sexes but ov...

The genome of the Choristoneura occidentalis granulovirus (ChocGV) isolated from the western spruce budworm, Choristoneura occidentalis, was sequenced completely. It was 104,710 bp long, with a 67.3% A+T content and contained 116 potential open reading frames (ORFs) covering 88.4% of the genome. Of these, 29 ORFs were conserved in all fully sequenced baculovirus genomes, 30 were GV-specific, 53...

Abstract Background Chitin, a long-chain polymer of N -acetylglucosamine, is major structural component the insect exoskeleton and peritrophic membrane (PM). Chitinases are able to effectively break down glycosidic bonds chitin thus can be used in agriculture control plant pathogen insects. These enzymes synthesized by higher plants, animals, protista, bacteria, viruses. Results In this study, ...