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Quantification of biopesticide activity — a rapid survey of methods and standardization problems 1
Author(s) -
GUILLON M.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
eppo bulletin
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.327
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1365-2338
pISSN - 0250-8052
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2338.1997.tb00627.x
Subject(s) - standardization , biopesticide , pesticide , microbiology and biotechnology , bacillus thuringiensis , biochemical engineering , business , toxicology , biology , engineering , computer science , bacteria , ecology , genetics , operating system
Worldwide development of IPM techniques and increased interest in microbial pesticides have brought a wide range of registered products onto the market in many countries. Quality control is the key point for manufacturing companies because of the variable biological nature of the products and constraints concerning their storage life. The technical specifications of such microorganism‐based preparations are rather difficult for end users to understand and there is an urgent need for standardization. The European Committee for Standardization (ECS) has set up a working group to prepare standard guidelines on assessment of the purity, biological activity and stability of microorganism‐based preparations. This paper discusses the measurement of the activity of the three main classes of frequently used microbial pesticides, those of bacterial origin ( Bacillus thuringiensis toxin), viral products (insect baculovirus) and fungal products (antagonistic or entomopathogenic).