Innovation Anthology #78: Associate Professor, Applied Forest Ecology, Dept of Renewable Resources
The search is on to find environment friendly ways to control outbreaks of grasshoppers.
One biological treatment which has been used successfully in other countries but not Canada is a fungus in the genus Metarhizium.
Spores from the Metarhizium fungus penetrate the grasshopper”s cuticle, killing the grasshopper. But they don’t harm other organisms.
For her Master’s research at the University of Lethbridge, Susan Entz developed a molecular assay to detect the fungus and trace it through the environment. And she discovered Canada has its own version of the fungus.
SUSAN ENTZ: Well in a soil survey I conducted after we developed the assay we did find a few related isolates of Metarhizium that were very similar to the commercial isolate we were thinking of using. And in later bio-assays we did find that we had one isolate that showed a degree of infection in grasshoppers that was comparable to commercial isolate.
This Canadian version of the fungus may have commercial potential.
SUSAN ENTZ: Because this isolate was obtained from soil, we really don’t know what the host target or range is. So that would have to be determined prior to any application of this fungus.
Thanks today to The University of Lethbridge. FOR INNOVATION ANTHOLOGY, I’M CHERYL CROUCHER
Guest
Simon Landhausser, PhD,
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, simon.landhausser@ualberta.ca
Sponsor
Program Date: 2007-10-25