CSIRO scientists are combining micro sensing, sterile insect technology and new insect trapping systems to protect farms from one of Australia's most economically damaging pest €" the Queensland fruit fly.
Although only 8mm in length, QFF is a highly mobile insect capable of infecting a wide range of major fruit and vegetable crops, including stone and tropical fruits.
The spread of QFF in Australia's eastern states is threatening the nation's $6.9 billion horticultural industry, which relies on both domestic and international trade.
Until recently, farmers located in areas where QFF was present had used agri-chemicals €" such as dimethoate and fenthion €" to prevent and manage incursions.
However, after a long period of review, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority has recently restricted the use of these insecticides.
According to CSIRO researcher Paul De Barro, increased QFF numbers can also threaten status of pest free areas.
€We believe that our sterile insect technology, through development of a male-only line of QFF, will offer a new environmentally friendly, sustainable and cost effective approach to assist in managing this damaging pest,€ Dr De Barro said.
€Sterile insect technology is a scientifically proven method for suppressing or eradicating fruit fly populations and managing their potential impacts in horticulture production areas.€
Sterile insect technology biological control has already been used with successfully around the world and in South Australia to combat the Mediterranean fruit fly.
€Despite all our knowledge of fruit flies, we do not actually know where they go to breed,€ Dr De Barro said.
€When you're looking to deploy sterile male flies to disrupt the mating cycle this information is a critical piece of the puzzle.
€By using micro sensing technology on QFF, as we have done with honey bees in Tasmania, CSIRO will be able to answer that question and, most importantly, understand where to deploy sterile Q-flies and also how to make better use of other management options such as new trapping systems and pheromone baits.
€It will tell us how many sterile flies we will need to release and most importantly, when to release them.€

Fruit Flies Help Uncover Tumor-Preventing Proteins

A team of researchers from Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School have discovered a protein complex that disrupts dedifferentiation, a process known to promote tumor development.
Neural stem cells or €neuroblasts' from the brains of larval fruit flies have become a popular model for studying neural stem cells in humans. When neuroblasts divide into two new cells, one remains a neuroblast while the other becomes progenitor cell which can mature into other types of brain cells.
Although the process of maturation is usually one way, certain mature cells occasionally escape the control mechanisms and undergo the reverse process to dedifferentiate back into neuroblasts. Dedifferentiation leads to the formation of ectopic neural stem cells which result in brain tumors.
Asst Professor Wang Hongyan and her team were interested in the control mechanisms that normally prevent dedifferentiation from taking place. Using the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) model, they identified a three-protein complex that plays an important role in regulating dedifferentiation.
All three proteins are involved in different aspects of gene expression: Earmuff is a transcription factor that controls the process by which the genes in DNA are transcribed to make molecules of messenger RNA; while Brahma and HDAC3 are both involved in a process called chromatin remodeling.
These findings shed light on the mechanisms of dedifferentiation, and could help scientists understand tumor formation and stem cell behavior.
The team hopes to next investigate which specific genes are regulated by the Brahma-HDAC3-Earmuff complex.

Farmland butterflies bounce back

Farmland butterflies have flourished thanks to last year's hot summer, the charity Butterfly Conservation says.
The annual Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey (WCBS) recorded almost double the number of insects compared with the previous year.
Long, sunny periods provided perfect breeding conditions for some of the UK's brightest species, it suggested.
But experts warned the mild winter could reverse the insects' fortunes if they emerged too early for spring.
The survey has been run by Butterfly Conservation, the British Trust for Ornithology and The Centre for Ecology and Hydrology since 2009.
Last year, volunteers monitored 850 randomly selected 1km squares across UK farmland.
With more than 70% of the UK's land area devoted to agriculture, the survey provides a broader picture of butterfly health across the country, rather than in hotspots such as nature reserves or gardens.
Dr Zoe Randle from Butterfly Conservation, who co-ordinated the survey, said the results were some of the best ever recorded for common and widespread species.
The small tortoiseshell, which had been a cause for concern in previous years, had a dramatic turnaround.
Mirroring their resurgence in garden surveys, small tortoiseshells were seen in 80% of the wider countryside sites, compared with just 40% in 2012.
Both the large and small 'cabbage' whites, common blue, small copper and brimstone all thrived too but the most abundant was the meadow brown, with 8,000 more butterflies counted this year than last year.
"[Farmland] provides nectar sources for butterflies," explained Dr Randle.
"It also provides caterpillar food sites, so the immature stages have got something to eat.
"There are hedgerows and trees that provide places to lay their eggs and to stay out of the elements."
Although warm weather provides perfect conditions for these cold-blooded insects to feed and breed in the summer, mild winters can cause a problem.
"We don't really know with all this extreme rainfall, what effect that's going to have on our butterflies. It's unprecedented so there's no scientific evidence to show one way or another," said Dr Randle.
"One thing we do know is that warm, wet winters are no good for some species of moth."
The meadow brown was the most abundant species in the survey
"These mild winters increase pathogen activity, so there will be lots more fungi about," she said, explaining that butterflies which overwinter as eggs or caterpillars are vulnerable to diseases caused by fungi.
According to Dr Randle, warm days in winter can also cause butterflies to emerge early when fewer food plants are available.
This can result in the insects running out of energy before the breeding season, which leads to population declines.
"We're at the mercy of the weather to be honest," said Dr Randle.
"In the longer term, species are generally declining, and one good summer doesn't ensure it's going to be good in the future."
She added that this year's survey is vital in determining the impact of mild, wet winter conditions for the summer-loving species.