H2020 SuperPests Project: Innovative tools for the rational control of the most difficult-to-manage pests (superpests) and the diseases they transmit

Better ways to prevent pests from damaging our crops A new set of tools and strategies can help farmers combat common pests more cost-effectively and with much less pesticide use. Aphids, whiteflies, thrips, and mites are the bane of European farmers. These arthropods can damage more than 200 important crops and also transmit viruses. "These are the most common pests, so most pesticides have been targeted at them. This has led to pesticide resistance and made control extremely difficult," explains John Vontas, professor of pharmacology at the Agricultural University of Athens (Greece).

SuperPests, an EU-funded project coordinated by Vontas, has spent the last four and a half years developing a range of new products, concepts, and tools, and using data-driven mathematical models to integrate them with existing approaches. The result is a more effective and sustainable system for integrated pest management (IPM). Lower cost, less pesticides “By combining new and existing solutions, we are achieving much more efficient control in field experiments. With this IPM, the cost is reduced by 50% and pesticide residues by 80% compared to traditional chemical control. This is quite substantial,” says Vontas. This could also help farmers meet one of the goals of the European Green Deal, which calls for reducing pesticide use by 50% by 2030. The team identified numerous new resistance markers in pests. They used these, along with previously established markers, to develop diagnostic tools that allow them to determine the most effective pesticide for each infestation. They developed biotechnological pipelines useful for the detection and testing of new insecticides and biopesticides. These include a virtual insectary, a panel of more than 30 transgenic fruit fly lines, and a library of 21 SuperPest P450s.

"These enzymes make it possible to assess the metabolic stability of new compounds. We have developed simple biochemical assays that allow testing to be performed quickly and easily," says Vontas. Tests with biopesticides showed that some, used alone or, especially, in mixtures, have great potential to act as a more environmentally friendly way to control pests. Understanding pest effectors (the resistance mechanisms that plants can develop against pests) and seeking to strengthen them was another area of study. "We discovered some molecular determinants of those phenotypes, which we hope to exploit to develop more resistance in tomato plants in the future," says Vontas. Encouraging Predators The team also worked on improving the adaptation of beneficial insects that act as biological control agents by feeding on pests. Typically resistant plants repel not only pests, but also, potentially, beneficial insects. "We sought to improve the resistance of tomato plants to superpests without affecting their attractiveness to beneficial predators," Vontas adds. "We were able to create predator strains with substantially improved adaptation in resistant plants."

The results are also applicable to other vegetables. Project partners are leveraging the knowledge gained through SuperPests in new initiatives, such as CypTox, which seeks to develop low-risk selective insecticides that are effective against insects and mites. Meanwhile, MicroBioPest aims to develop microbial biopesticides that are environmentally safe yet effective against agricultural pests and vectors of human disease.