title: A global approach to resistance monitoring.
abstract: Transgenic crops producing insecticidal toxins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have been grown in many parts of the world since 1996. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has required that industry submit insect resistance management (IRM) plans for each Bt corn and cotton product commercialized. A coalition of stakeholders including the EPA, USDA, academic scientists, industry, and grower organizations have cooperated in developing specific IRM strategies. Resistance monitoring (requiring submission of annual reports to the EPA), and a remedial action plan addressing any contingency if resistance should occur, are important elements of these strategies. At a global level, Monsanto conducts baseline susceptibility studies (prior to commercialization), followed by monitoring studies on target pest populations, for all of its commercialized Bt crop products. To date, Monsanto has conducted baseline/monitoring studies in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, India, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, and the United States. Examples of pests on which resistance monitoring has been conducted include cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa zea, European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis, pink bollworm, Pectinophora gossypiella, Southwestern corn borer, Diatraea grandiosella, tobacco budworm, Heliothis virescens, and western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera, in the United States, cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, in China, India and Australia, and H. virescens and H. zea in Mexico. No field-selected resistance to Bt crops has been documented.
authors.affiliation: Monsanto Company, 700 Chesterfield Parkway West, Saint Louis, MO 63017, USA. sssiva@monsanto.com
authors.forename: Sakuntala
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sivasupramaniam
authors.forename: Graham P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Head
authors.forename: Leigh
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: English
authors.forename: Yue Jin
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ty T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Vaughn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000083722:Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D014943:Global Health; D003368:Gossypium / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007313:Insecta / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D007305:Insecticide Resistance / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D007306:Insecticides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007391:International Cooperation; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D003313:Zea mays / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000083722:Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004731:Endotoxins; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins; D007306:Insecticides; C030956:insecticidal crystal protein, Bacillus Thuringiensis