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MATJORD-Program for forskning innenfor jordbruksog matproduksjon

Acaricide resistance in two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae)

Awarded: NOK 5.1 mill.

The two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae (Koch), is one of the most serious pests to various plants of agricultural importance throughout the world. This pest has developed resistance to a wide range of acaricides (= pesticides used to control mit es) in many countries worldwide. In Norway, T. urticae is a serious problem in economically important greenhouse crops and in field strawberries. In the last years, the growers have faced increasing problems with controlling T. urticae chemically, and res istance is suspected. As a consequence of this, the acaricide use has been intensified (higher dosages, more frequent spraying). This is costly: increased production costs, reduced crop, reduced product quality, increased health hazard for people working in agriculture and an increased risk for contamination of food and environment by acaricides. To reverse this development there is a great demand to increase the knowledge regarding resistance to acaricides in Norway. In this project we will investigate t he resistance of T. urticae to four of the most used classes of acaricides in Norway. By using molecular techniques like differential display, cDNA AFLP and cloning and characterizing of genes, we will study the mechanisms involved in resistance developme nt in the two-spotted spider mite

Funding scheme:

MATJORD-Program for forskning innenfor jordbruksog matproduksjon