Inheritance of Resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis Toxin (Dipel ES) in the European Corn Borer
F. Huang,
1
L. L. Buschman,
1
R. A. Higgins,
1*
W. H. McGaughey
2
Resistance in the European corn borer, Ostrinia
nubilalis (Hübner), to a commercial formulation of
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Berliner toxin, Dipel
ES, appears to be inherited as an incompletely dominant autosomal gene.
This contrasts with the inheritance of resistance to Bt in
other insects, where it has usually been characterized as a recessive
trait. The proposed high-dose/refuge strategy for resistance management
in Bt maize depends on resistance being recessive or
partially recessive. If field resistance turns out to be similar to
this laboratory resistance, the usefulness of the high-dose/refuge
strategy for resistance management in Bt maize may be
diminished.
1 Department of Entomology, Kansas State
University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA.
2 U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service Grain
Marketing and Production Research Center, 1515 College Avenue,
Manhattan, KS 66502, USA (retired).
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
rhiggins{at}oz.oznet.ksu.edu
