Agronomy and Horticulture, Department of

 

European Corn Borer and Bacillus thuringiensis

Document Type

Learning Object

Date of this Version

2004

Citation

Plant and Soil Sciences eLibrary (PASSeL) Lesson

This manuscript has been assigned Journal Series No. 04-09, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska.

Comments

Copyright © 2004 Leah Sandall and Deana Namuth. Used by permission.

Peer-reviewed web lesson JNRLSE approved 2004

This project was supported in part by the National Research Initiative Competitive Grants CAP project 2011-68002-30029 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, administered by the University of California-Davis and by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Undergraduate Education, National SMETE Digital Library Program, Award #0938034, administered by the University of Nebraska. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the USDA or NSF.

Development of this lesson was supported in part by USDA Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems (IFAFS) and the Cooperative State Research, Education, & Extension Service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture under Agreement Number 00-52100-9710. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Abstract

This lesson contains information about the history, life cycle, and host plants of the European corn borer and information relating to the history and biology of Bacillus thuringiensis.

Overview and Objectives

This lesson discusses the origin and biology of European corn borer (ECB) (Ostrinia nubilalis) and Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). ECB is a significant threat to many crops but especially to corn production. Bt has routinely been used as a spray to control insects such as ECB. Recently, genetic engineering has been employed to enable corn to produce its own resistance to ECB.

At the end of this lesson, learners should be able to:

  • Describe the life cycle of the European corn borer
  • List the number of ECB generations for the different regions within the United States
  • Identify and describe damage caused by European corn borer
  • Explain what Bt is and where it can be found
  • Identify what insects are affected by Bt and how it kills European corn borer
  • Identify benefits and concerns of inserting a Bt gene into corn

Modules:

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS