Syngenta Targets Corn Worm in New Way

Syngenta Biotechnology Inc. is seeking federal approval to market a new rootworm-resistant corn.

The growing Research Triangle Park-based agribusiness has asked the United States Department of Agriculture for the go-ahead on a new trait Syngenta scientists have developed, dubbed Event 5307. The trait provides a new way to disrupt the digestive tracts of destructive corn rootworms as they eat.

It’s a new mode of action that binds differently in the gut of target insects than the protein in Syngenta’s existing Agrisure RW corn rootworm trait.

Answering Farmers' Call for Simpler Rootworm Control

“This is a major milestone toward the Syngenta goal of delivering the best, most convenient and most effective single-bag refuge solution to growers,” said David Morgan, president of Syngenta Seeds, the entity that develops corn and soybean products.

“Refuge” is a term used in conjunction with crops developed from the tools of biotechnology. It’s a management strategy involving the planting of both a biotech seed and a non-biotech version of the same seed, to prevent invaders such as insects from developing resistance to the biotech seed’s insect-killing abilities. 

To prevent generations of invasive insects from eventually breeding increasingly resistant offspring that adapt to the biotech plant’s built-in pesticide, naïve, or non-resistant “partners” are allowed to freely visit the plants in the refuge that don’t have the pesticide genes. When those various insects mate, their offspring doesn’t have the ability to be resistant.

Refuges Take Various Forms

Refuges can take several forms. For example, fields can be planted with biotech and non-biotech seeds in strips within the same field, or in adjacent fields.

Now some companies are even offering this "refuge-in-the-bag" option that provides both types of seed — insect-protected and non-insect-protected — in one bag. The seed company manufactures the right mix, based on the refuge percentage required for a particular technology.

“We have heard growers say they need a simple, time-saving solution that captures lost yield from refuge acres," said Morgan. "At the same time, we believe any such solution needs to be based on sound science to help protect against the potential development of resistant insects. By developing multiple traits with novel modes of action on the same target pest, we believe we can accomplish both of these objectives.”

Syngenta plans to make additional regulatory submissions to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as well as key export countries to gain the necessary regulatory approvals for this trait.

Feeding the World With Long, Proud RTP Legacy

The global firm was launched in RTP in 1984, the same year the North Carolina Biotechnology Center was established nearby. Started by famed research scientist Mary-Dell Chilton, Ph.D., it’s now building a new headquarters facility.

It’s a subsidiary of Syngenta AG, a Swiss company formed in 2000 by an agribusiness marriage between pharmaceutical giants Novartis and AstraZeneca. Syngenta employs more than 25,000 people worldwide, including more than 500 in North Carolina.

Syngenta's North American headquarters for its insecticide and herbicide business, Syngenta Crop Protection, is in Greensboro.