The protein tyrosine phosphatase PTP-PEST is a cytosolic enzyme that displays a remarkable degree of selectivity for tyrosine-phosphorylated p130(Cas) as a substrate, both in vitro and in intact cells. We have investigated the physiological role of PTP-PEST using Rat1 fibroblast-derived stable cell lines that we have engineered to overexpress PTP-PEST. These cell lines exhibit normal levels of ...

Biological pest control is increasingly used in agriculture as a an alternative to traditional chemical pest control. In many cases, this involves a one-off or periodic release of naturally occurring and/or genetically modified enemies such as predators, parasitoids, or pathogens. As the interaction between these enemies and the pest is complex and the production of enemies potentially expensiv...

Semiochemical-based pest management programs comprise three major approaches that are being used to provide environmentally friendly control methods of insect pests: mass trapping, "lure and kill," and mating disruption. In this article, we review the potential of mass trapping in long-term pest management as well as in the eradication of invasive species. We discuss similarities and difference...

The codling moth Cydia pomonella (L.) (Lepidoptera Tortricidae) is one of the key pests in apple and pear trees and its high harmfulness on the fruits requires a strongly effective pest management. Among the pest control strategies adopted in the years, nowadays integrated pest management (IPM) represents one of the most diffused methods and it requires pest monitoring by means of sex pheromone...

INTRODUCTION: As of 2001, it was estimated that approximately 50,000 nonindigenous species had been introduced into the United States (Pimentel et al. 2000). Some are beneficial, including food crops (e.g. corn, wheat), livestock (e.g. cattle, sheep), landscape enhancement (e.g. crape myrtles, boxwoods), or biological pest controls (e.g. host-specific biological control insects and pathogens). ...

As growers switch to transgenic crops and selective insecticides that are less toxic to natural enemies, natural enemies can become more important in agricultural pest management. Current decision-making guides are generally based on pest abundance and do not address pest and natural enemy toxicity differences among insecticides or the impact of natural enemies on pest survival. A refined appro...