Since the gene expression interference induced by dsRNA was discovered, dsRNA has been considered as an antiviral agent and pesticide to protect beneficial insects and crops, respectively. Recently, dsRNA was classified as IRAC mode of action group 35, and the first dsRNA pesticide, Calatha of GreenLight Bioscience, has been approved by EPA. Also an animal drug for Asian honeybee, HoneyGuard-R of Genolution is about to be approved by APQA. During the last two decades, hundreds of papers already had demonstrated the application and capability of dsRNA for agriculture, however, we have just a few commercialized products at hand at this moment. It is time to understand the processes, hurdles and limitations on the industry side that are indispensable for the development, registration and commercialization of dsRNA-based products.

The global biopesticide market was estimated to become about 4% of the total crop protection market in 2015, mainly due to variability of their efficacy, narrow spectrum or difficulties in long-term storage. Therefore, many people focus on overcoming these issues as a big trend. Suggested solutions include the investigation of synergy between microorganisms, the use of genetic engineering, improving the pesticide life shelf, etc. As a result, biopesticides market has grown by more than 17% over the last decade. In this context and aiming to develop new entomopathogenic fungi–based pest management tools, we constructed a fungal library by isolating insect pathogenic fungi from soil. A total of 581 isolates belonging to 35 species were isolated and characterized. Beauveria bassiana was the most abundant, representing 38.55% of the total strains, followed by Metharizium anisopliae (22.55%) and bubillosa (8.6). …% of the total isolates were highly virulent against Tenebrio molitor killing most of the treated insects in 2 to 3 days.

2010년대 들어 화학물 기반의 작물보호제에대한 환경독성 및 잔류 문제의 대두, 병해충에 대한 저항성 증대와 이에 따른 신규 작물보호제 개발 비용의 증가 등은 바이오 작물보호제에 대한 관심을 증가시키고 있다. 특히 Bayer의 AgraQuest 인수, BASF의 Becker Underwood인수, 신젠타의Pasteuria Bioscience 인수나 Monsanto와 Novozyme의 BioAg., FMC와 Chr. Hansen 등의 기술 및 제품개발 협력관계 구축 등은 바이오 작물보호제에 대한 다국적 작물보호제 기업의 높은 관심을 보여주는 것이다. 본 발표에서는 미생물을 활용한 글로벌 바이오 작물보호제 개발 동향 및 팜한농에서 개발한 바이오 작물보호제 개발 사례를 소개하고 향후 바이오 작물보호제 산업화를 위해 요구되는 사항들을 정리하여 논의하고자 한다.

As a broad-spectrum insecticide azadirachtin may cause acute toxicity and alter behavior of natural enemies. We evaluatedthe toxicity of azadirachtin on two egg parasitoids of Riptortus pedestris (Fabricius) (Hemiptera: Alydidae), Ooencyrtusnezarae Ishii (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) and Gryon japonicum (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Platygastridae), by pre-treatinghost eggs with five concentrations, i.e., 15, 10, 7.5, 5, and 2.5 mL/L. Azadirachtin significantly reduced parasitism byG. japonicum in 15 and 10 mL/L concentrations than other lower concentrations. Similar effect was also observed inO. nezarae. The parasitism reduction capacity (R) for G. japonicum was 40.8 and 33.1% in 15 and 10 mL/L concentrations,but it was 81.6 and 71.4% in O. nezarae, respectively. Based on the IOBC guideline, azadirachtin can be slightly ormoderately harmful to O. nezarae and slightly harmful or harmless to G. japonicum.

Entomopathogenic fungi are facultative microorganisms, dwelling in soil or infecting host insects, and some of the genera have been used as biological control agents worldwide. Collection of fungal isolates should be a platform for the development of highly effective resources, thus in this work we constructed a fungal library using a mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) pathogenicity-based fungal collection method and further characterized some isolates with high virulence. A phylogenetic three was generated, and of the isolates 17 isolates’ biological features were characterized, such as morphology, spectrum of virulence, cultural characteristics, thermo-stability of fungi, production of biologically active materials, such as enzymes. This work reports an attractive entomopathogenic fungal library including the information of effective isolates in pest management.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a gram-positive and spore-forming bacterium that produces parasporal inclusions containing Cry and Cyt proteins during sporulation. These inclusions or proteins are highly toxic to lepidopteran, dipteran, coleopteran larvae, and nematodes. Because of their selectable specificity and safety to non-target organisms and environment, Bt is considered as a valuable and safe alternative to chemical pesticides for eradication of insect pests. Bt biopesticide products has been commercialized and used very widely and successfully in agriculture, forestry and medical care markets since 1930s. In Korea, the screening for isolation of new Bt strains such as Bt Nt0423 (Tobbagi) and Bt GB-413 (Solbichae) have been performed and their commercial products were launched in agricultural markets. In terms of public health, mosquito larvicidal products made by Bt subsp. israelensis have been registered by Korean ministry of food and drug safety and used since 1995. Recently, a new mosquitocidal serovar (H3a3b3d), Bt subsp. mogi was isolated and its molecular characteristics were analyzed. In our opinion, Bt biopesticides might be still an effective and safe tool for insect pest control in agriculture and public health. Key words: Bacillus thuringiensis, biopesticide, Bt subsp. israelensis, mosqui

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a bacterial biopesticide against insect pests, mainly lepidopterans. Spodoptera exigua and Plutella xylostella exhibit significant decreases in Bt susceptibility in late larval instars. To enhance Bt pathogenicity, we used a mixture treatment of Bt and other bacterial metabolites which possessed significant immunosuppressive activities. Mixtures of Bt with culture broths of Xenorhabdus nematophila (Xn) or Photorhabdus temperata ssp. temperata (Ptt) significantly enhanced the Bt pathogenicity against late larval instars. Different ratios of Bt to bacterial culture broth had significant pathogenicities against last instar P. xylostella and S. exigua. Five compounds identified from the bacterial culture broth also enhanced Bt pathogenicity. After determining the optimal ratios, the mixture was applied to cabbage infested by late ins tar P. xylostella or S. exigua in greenhouse conditions. A mixture of Bt and Xn culture broth killed 100% of both insect pests when it was sprayed twice, while Bt alone killed less than 80% or 60% of P. xylostella and S. exigua, respectively. Other Bt mixtures, including Ptt culture broth or bacterial metabolites, also significantly increased pathogenicity in the semi-field assays. These results demonstrated that the Bt mixtures collectively names 'Bt-Plus' can be developed into potent biopesticides to increase the efficacy of Bt.

Thirty five isolates of Trichoderma species collected from seven different locations of Bangladesh were studied for morphological characters and molecular variation. Mycelial diameters of the isolates varied from 8.28 cm to 9.00 cm. Based on colony colour, isolates were grouped into five such as dark green, green, light green, yellowish green and whitish green. Maximum isolates were green and light green. On the basis of growth habit and colony consistency, the isolates were categorized into three groups, in which most species had fast growth and were compact in appearance. PCR-based Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique employing 3 decamer primers produced 36 scorable bands of which all (100%) were polymorphic. The co-efficient of gene differentiation (Gst) was 1.0000 reflecting the existence of high level of genetic diversity among the isolates. The Unweighted Pair Group Method of Arithmetic Means (UPGMA) dendrogram constructed from Nei's (1972) genetic distance produced 2 main clusters (13 isolates in cluster 1 and 22 isolates in cluster 2). The result indicating their genetic diversity has opened new possibility of using the most efficient and more isolates of Trichoderma in the preparation of biopesticide and decomposition of municipality waste.