Susceptibility of Arizona Pink Bollworm to Cry1Ac Following Six Years of Intensive Use of Transgenic Bt Cotton in Arizona

Abstract

We summarize information on the performance of Bt cotton against pink bollworm (PBW), Pectinophora gossypiella, in Arizona following six years of use of this new technology. Monitoring of PBW susceptibility to Bt toxin Cry1Ac was conducted annually since 1997 by collecting insects from ten to 17 cotton fields, culturing strains in the laboratory, and measuring susceptibility to Cry1Ac in diet-incorporation bioassays. Based on survival in discriminating concentration bioassays of 10 μg Cry1Ac/ml of insect diet, resistant PBW were detected in low frequencies at 10 out of 17 Arizona locations sampled in 2001 and ranged from 0.0 to 4.0%. Though significantly more abundant than in the previous three seasons, resistant PBW were statistically less abundant in 2001 than they were in 1997. One collection from Paloma, AZ, had 4.0% survivors (uncorrected, actual survival) in bioassays of 10 μg/ml and samples from Coolidge, Maricopa, and Parker Arizona yielded • 1.0% survivors of this concentration. Susceptibility of a limited numbers of 2001 collections of PBW from California, New Mexico and Texas is also reported. Bioassays of 2002 collections are underway at the time of this writing. In a parallel effort, field efficacy of Bt cotton against PBW was documented at five to 39 Arizona locations per year since 1995 by collecting cotton bolls at seasons’ end and counting PBW and exit holes. In 39 pairs of adjacent Bt and non-Bt fields evaluated in 2001 by the Arizona Cotton Research and Protection Council, mean end-of-season pink bollworm infestation levels were > 15% for non-Bt fields and were < 0.15% in adjacent Bt fields. Thus, field observations indicated that performance of Bt cotton continued to be excellent throughout Arizona in the 2002 season.