Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Columbia, Missouri » Plant Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #381500

Research Project: Genetic and Physiological Mechanisms Underlying Complex Agronomic Traits in Grain Crops

Location: Plant Genetics Research

Title: Western corn rootworm, plant and microbe interactions: A review and prospects for new management tools

Author
item PADDOCK, KYLE - University Of Missouri
item ROBERT, CHRISTELLE - University Of Bern
item ERB, MATTHIAS - University Of Bern
item Hibbard, Bruce

Submitted to: Insects
Publication Type: Literature Review
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/13/2021
Publication Date: 2/16/2021
Citation: Paddock, K.J., Robert, C., Erb, M., Hibbard, B.E. 2021. Western corn rootworm, plant and microbe interactions: A review and prospects for new management tools. Insects. 12(2):171. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects12020171.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/insects12020171

Interpretive Summary: Not required.

Technical Abstract: The western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, is resistant to four separate classes of traditional insecticides, all Bacillius thuringiensis (Bt) toxins currently registered for commercial use, crop rotation, innate plant resistance factors, and even double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) targeting essential genes via environmental RNA interference (RNAi), which has not been sold commercially to date. Clearly, additional tools are needed as management options. In this review, we discuss the state-of-the-art knowledge about biotic factors influencing herbivore success, including host location and recognition, plant defensive traits, plant-microbe interactions, and herbivore-pathogens/predator interactions. We then translate this knowledge into potential new management tools and improved biological control.