Beneficial nematodes to control rootworms in European maize production
The western corn rootworm is a major invasive maize pest in North America and Europe. Control options become more and more limited as problematic pesticides are being phased out. 10 years of joint efforts in research and development by academic, legislative and commercial partners have led to a nematode-based biological control solution for this destructive maize pest. Mass-produced beneficial nematodes Heterorhabditis bacteriophora are now available as a commercial product.
MIRRI: improving access to microbial resources, services and data
Microorganisms are vital natural resources for biotechnology; they help advance human health, improve food security and provide innovative solutions to research and development. The European microbial landscape is fragmented and resources or data are hard to find. The Microbial Resource Research Infrastructure (MIRRI) is resolving this; integrating the main microbial domain Biological Resource Centres and their supporting services and data into a novel pan-European research infrastructure.