Baculoviruses are potentially effective and safe agents for controlling crop pest infestation. However, the high cost of producing the virus has hindered commercialization. Hukuhara and colleagues now have made this strategy more economical by lowering the amount of baculovirus needed for crop application (see p. 1122). Their engineered transgenic rice expresses a proteinaceous enhancing factor from an armyworm virus. Armyworm larvae feeding on the rice had increased susceptibility to baculovirus infection.
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DeWitt, N. Potentiating biocontrol. Nat Biotechnol 17, 1051 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/15021
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/15021