AgraQuest Inc. discovers, develops, and markets natural product biopesticides. Automated in vivo screenings of microbial broths for insecticidal and fungicidal activity are the center of a streamlined system. Our screens are designed to efficiently discover novel biopesticides and rapidly dereplicate known metabolites. A novel Streptomyces sp. was identified by AgraQuest that displays broad-spectrum activity against lepidopteran pests. Mortality is rapid following exposure to the microbial whole broth (WB) in both diet and plant assays. The estimated LC50, in a diet overlay assay (40 µl of WB per 7 mm diameter diet plug in a 96-well plate) for Black Cutworm (Agrotis ipsilon), Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), Egyptian Cotton Leafworm (Spodoptera littoralis), Oblique Banded Leafroller (Chroristoneura rosaceana), Pandemis Leafroller (Pandemis pyrusana), Codling Moth (Cydia pomonella), Beet Armyworm (Spodoptera exigua), Diamondback Moth (Plutella xylostella), Tobacco Budworm (Heliothis virescens) and Cabbage Looper (Trichloplusia ni) are in the range between 1.6 - 26 µl/cm2. Insects that were tested with whole microbial broth and showed no activity include Diabrotica undecimpunctata undecimpunctata, Myzuz persicae, Aphis fabae, Tetranychus urticae, Nilaparvata lugens, Meloidogyne incognita and Caenorhabditis elegans. Preliminary field trials on cabbage for the control of Diamondback Moth have shown that 2 weekly applications of a WB have comparable efficacy to 2 applications of Xentari at 2 lb/acre. An acute oral toxicity study in rats showed no toxicity at a rate of 5,000 mg microbial broth/kg rat (dose calculated based on density of sample), suggesting a high level of safety for this microbe.
The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA