Friday, February 4, 2011

PAU ENTOMOLOGY CLUB ORGANISES A SEMINAR

LUDHIANA,

A seminar was organized by Entomology Club, Department of Entomology, PAU, where the visiting professor Dr Gurmukh Singh Johal, Professor, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, Purdue University, USA, deliberated on, \'a new network of genes and mechanisms orchestrating maize\'s interaction with insect pests.\' He discussed about crwl, a maize mutant whose leaves are devoured by the Western corn rootworm (WCR) beetle. The larvae of this beetle being the number one pest of corn in the U.S. inflict severe damage annually in terms of cost of control and yield loss and has earned the nickname the \'billion-dollar bug,\' said he. Although the WCR beetle feeds almost exclusively on maize, its diet is normally restricted to pollen and silks, and all other plant parts are left largely unscathed. This however, is not the case with crwl, whose leaves are especially favoured by the beetle as a food source. Dr Johal added that crwl inherits in a recessive manner, suggesting that a mechanism that normally renders maize leaves unpalatable to the WCR beetle is compromised in this mutant. The significance of crwl lies in the fact that virtually nothing is known about the nature of genes and mechanisms that deter maize from being chewed by insect herbivores. He also emphasized on how plants cope with stresses imposed by an ever changing environment and discussed about exploring the potential of the crwl mutant as a trap crop for managing WCR.

Later, Dr. S.S.Gosal, Director of Research, PAU, stressed on the development of collaborative research for the enhancement of maize through genetic, molecular, entomological, pathological programmes. Dr. A.K.Dhawan, Additional Director of Research, PAU, proposed a vote of thanks
News From: http://www.7StarNews.com

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