Bruchid larvae cause major losses of grain legume crops throughout the world. Some bruchid species, such as the cowpea weevil and the azuki bean weevil, are pests that damage stored seeds. Others, such as the pea weevil (Bruchus pisorum), attack the crop growing i n the field. We transferred the cDNA encoding the a-amylase inhibitor (a-AI) found in the seeds of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) into pea (Pisum sativum) using Agrobacferium-mediated transformation. Expression was driven by the promoter of phytohemagglutinin, another bean seed protein. The a-amylase inhibitor gene was stably expressed in the transgenic pea seeds at least to the T, seed generation, and a-AI accumulated i n the seeds up to 3% of soluble protein. This level is somewhat higher than that normally found in beans, which contain 1 to 2 % a-AI. In the 1 , seed generation the development of pea weevil larvae was blocked at an early stage. Seed damage was minimal and seed yield was not significantly reduced in the transgenic plants. These results confirm the feasibility of protecting other grain legumes such as lentils, mungbean, groundnuts, and chickpeas against a variety of bruchids using the same approach. Although a-AI also inhibits human a-amylase, cooked peas should not have a negative impact on human energy metabolism.The common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) contains a family of structurally related seed proteins: PHA-E and -L, arcelin, and a-AI. PHA-E and PHA-L are strong agglutinins, i.e. classical lectins that bind carbohydrate, and arcelin, which is found only in certain wild accessions of the common bean, may be a weak agglutinin (Hartweck et al., 1991). The bean a-AI has 65 to 70% amino acid sequence identity with the other three but lacks at least one of the conserved residues needed for lectin activity. Its biochemical mode of action is to form a one-to-one complex with certain amylases (for reviews, see Chrispeels and Raikhel, 1991;Rouge et al., 1993).

tents reduces yield, while feeding scars and holes on testa reduce the quality and marketability of pea seed. The pea weevil, Bruchus pisorum (L.) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae), isIn addition, weevil-damaged seed has lower germination one of the most intractable pest problems of cultivated pea, Pisum sativum L. The availability of resistant cultivars would give growers rates and is prone to structural weakening during harmore pest management options. Searches for plant resistance to pea vest (Brindley and Hinman, 1937; Baker, 1990). High weevil were expanded to the Pisum secondary gene pool (P. fulvum levels of weevil-infested seed have been reported in Sm.) because seed resistance had not been located in P. sativum and Australia (10.6 to 71.5%; Horne and Bailey, 1991), subspecies. The objectives of this study were to determine the extent Spain (12.2 to 25.7%;Marzo et al., 1997), and the USA of pod and seed resistance to pea weevil in P. fulvum, and to use the (up to 64%; Pesho et al., 1977; Bragg and Burns, 2000). life table format to characterize weevil stage-specific mortality and Worldwide, pea producers rely mainly on contact insurvivorship on different P. fulvum accessions. Mortality of first instar secticides to control adults in pea fields before females larvae on pods, mortality of all weevil stages within seed, adult emerlay eggs on pods (Horne and Bailey, 1991; O'Keeffe et gence from seed, and seed damage levels were quantified. In two al., 1992; Clement et al., 2000). However, timing chemigreenhouse trials, more larvae died (14 to 50% averages) on pods of P. fulvum accessions than on pods of 'Alaska 81' (6% average), and cal applications to coincide with female egg laying is mortality of first instar larvae entering seed of P. fulvum accessions difficult. More than one application may be required if averaged 83.7%. Seed damage ratings (1 ϭ feeding scar on seed testa, weevil invasions continue for 2 to 4 wk in a pea field 0-1% cotyledon tissue eaten, dead first instar larva; 5 ϭ extensive (Michael et al., 1990). The development and use of cultidamage, live adult) averaged Ͻ3.0 for 26 P. fulvum accessions, comvars with pod and seed resistance to B. pisorum would pared with mean ratings of 4.9 for Alaska 81. Using weevil mortality reduce control costs and provide an environmentally and survivorship values in life tables and adult emergence rates, entries safer option than contact insecticides for adult weevil were classified as susceptible (two controls and five accessions), modcontrol. erately resistant (14 accessions), and resistant (12 accessions). Antibio-Some P. sativum lines with the Np gene respond to sis resistance was based on the death of weevil larvae on pods and the presence of pea weevil eggs on pods by forming seed testa and cotyledon tissues. The results identify sources of natural weevil resistance in the Pisum genome (26 moderately resistant and Abbreviations: GRIN, Genetic Resources Information Network.

Interspecific populations derived from crossing cultivated field pea, Pisum sativum, with the wild pea relative, Pisum fulvum, were scored for pod and seed injury caused by the pea weevil, Bruchus pisorum. Pod resistance was quantitatively inherited in the F2 population, with evidence of transgressive segregation. Heritability of pod resistance between F2 and F3 generations was very low, suggesting that this trait would be difficult to transfer in a breeding program. Seed resistance was determined for the F2 population by testing F3 seed tissues of individual F2 plants and pooling data from seed reaction for each F2 plant (inferred F2 genotype). Segregation for seed resistance in the F2 population of the cross Pennant/ATC113 showed a trigenic mode of inheritance, with additive effects and dominant epistasis towards susceptibility. Seed resistance was conserved over consecutive generations (F2 to F5) and successfully transferred to a new population by backcross introgression. Seed resistance in the backcross introgressed population segregated in a 63 : 1 ratio, supporting the three-gene inheritance model. It is proposed that complete resistance to pea weevil is controlled by three major recessive alleles assigned pwr1, pwr2, and pwr3, and complete susceptibility by three major dominant alleles assigned PWR1, PWR2, and PWR3. It is recommended that large populations (>300 F2 plants) would be required to effectively transfer these recessive alleles to current field pea cultivars through hybridisation and repeated backcrossing.

Prophylactic use of broad-spectrum insecticides is a common feature of broad-acre grains production systems around the world. Efforts to reduce pesticide use in these systems have the potential to deliver environmental benefits to large areas of agricultural land. However, research and extension initiatives aimed at decoupling pest management decisions from the simple act of applying a cheap insecticide have languished. This places farmers in a vulnerable position of high reliance on a few products that may lose their efficacy due to pests developing resistance, or be lost from use due to regulatory changes. The first step towards developing Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies involves an increased efficiency of pesticide inputs. Especially challenging is an understanding of when and where an insecticide application can be withheld without risking yield loss. Here, we quantify the effect of different pest management strategies on the abundance of pest and beneficial arthropods, crop damage and yield, across five sites that span the diversity of contexts in which grains crops are grown in southern Australia. Our results show that while greater insecticide use did reduce the abundance of many pests, this was not coupled with higher yields. Feeding damage by arthropod pests was seen in plots with lower insecticide use but this did not translate into yield losses. For canola, we found that plots that used insecticide seed treatments were most likely to deliver a yield benefit; however other insecticides appear to be unnecessary and economically costly. When considering wheat, none of the insecticide inputs provided an economically justifiable yield gain. These results indicate that there are opportunities for Australian grain growers to reduce insecticide inputs without risking yield loss in some seasons. We see this as the critical first step towards developing IPM practices that will be widely adopted across intensive production systems.