When the avidin concentration in seeds from transformed plants was greater than 100 parts per million, it prevented the development of or was toxic to maize weevils, Angoumois grain moths, lesser grain borers, sawtoothed grain beetles, red flour beetles, flat grain beetles, confused flour beetles, Indianmeal moths, and Mediterranean flour moths. The only pest tested that was not effectively controlled was the larger grain borer. Avidin acts by binding to the vitamin biotin and making it unavailable to the insects. Levels that were toxic to insects showed no apparent oral toxicity to mice. September 1999 Biological Control Prevents High Insect Fragment Counts in Flour.
Biological control is an important component of integrated pest management of stored grain.
There are several species of parasitic wasps that attack most of the insect pests of stored grain. Because the adult wasps are external to the grain kernels, they can easily be removed using normal cleaning processes. Go to Statement Continued Studies of the Effectiveness of Biopesticides to Protect Plants from Insect Pests. Agricultural crops worldwide suffer from a vast array of insect pests which cause severe damage and loss. One of the strategies to combat this loss is to incorporate new genes into the plant that produce protective chemicals termed biopesticides.