Against the one hundredth locust: the commercial use of insect pathogens

Abstract

Insect pathology has a long history dating back to the earliest studies in microbiology. A select few of the many known insect pathogens can be produced and used on an industrial scale as biopesticides and are championed for their low environmental impact. The commercial application of microbial insecticides has been limited competition with chemical insecticides. However, the advent of gene technology led to a multibillion dollar industry incorporating bacterial toxins into insect resistant transgenic crops, and in the development of expression vectors. Recent use of insect pathogens in Australia has demonstrated that these biopesticides can play a significant role in mainstream commercial agriculture for the management of multiple-insecticide resistant pests and maintenance and in integrated pest management.