BioGlobal in USDA deal

Brisbane 'green' agbiotech company BioGlobal has signed a cooperative R&D agreement with the US Department of Agriculture to develop its 'killer application' -- a cocktail of volatile floral compounds to lure noctuid moth pests to a lethal rendezvous.

BioGlobal, 52 per cent owned by Cardia Technologies in Melbourne, has already developed and tested a highly effective attractant, Bio-Attract/Heli, for noctuid moths.

The larvae of noctuid moths constitute a rogue's gallery of some of the world's most destructive agricultural pests, including the corn earworm, various species of cotton bollworm like the pink bollworm, diamondback moth and Australia's Helicoverpa species, as well as looper caterpillars, armyworms, leafworms and cutworms.

BioGlobal's signed an agreement in July with Cotton Growing Services, an Australian company jointly owned by Bayer and Syngenta, under which CGS will market and distribute Bio-Attract/Heli to cotton growers to control Helicoverpa armigera, the major pest in Australian cotton crops.

USDA researchers have identified a five-compound blend of floral volatils attracts many noctuid moths, but have not yet developed a commercial product.

Cardia chairman Pat Volpe said the deal with the USDA may lead to an more effective noctuid attractant than either formulation alone.

Volpe said Bio-Attract/Heli contained volatile extracts from natural sources that remained a commercial secret. The extracts are approved for use in foods and perfumes, so they are safe.

Moths cue in on the plume of volatiles and follow it to its source, where they are killed with small amounts of synthetic pesticides.

The application is being marketed as a potential alternative pest-control to transgenic Bt-protected cotton.

Most pesticides, including the inbuilt delta endotoxins in Bt cotton varieties, kill the leaf-chewing larvae of pest noctuids; synthetic pesticides must be sprayed over the entire crop.

Bio-Attract/Heli attracts and kills both the male and female adult moths, preventing females laying their eggs on the crop.

The strategy depends on the fact that noctuids are strong fliers, and have a high energy requirement that they satisfy by sipping nectar from flowers, so they are attracted by floral scents.

Bio-Attract/Heli is sprayed on only one row in 50, cutting pesticide use by 98 per cent. The moths aggregate on the sprayed rows and are killed by pesticides.

BioGlobal's agreement with the USDA opens the way for a development program based in Australia and the US, while the complementary growing seasons in both hemispheres could accelerate the commercialisation of any new product.

The target market is the cotton and grain legume industries, collectively worth AUD$435 million in the US, and horticultural industries with an estimated vale of AUD$240 million.

BioGlobal will apply for an exclusive licence for US rights to the USDA's original patent, and any new patents that might arise from the collaboration. It will also have the right to sub-license marketing and distribution.