ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the application of animal cells, particularly insect cells, for baculovirus production and its use as a bioinsecticide. The use of baculovirus in the control of insect pests and its production in vitro are discussed. Brazil is one of the largest agricultural producers in the world. Accord-
ing to data from the Institute of Agriculture (IEA), in 2003 the economic balance of the Brazilian agro business was US$ 17.61 billion (Vicente et al., 2003). In 2005, the Brazilian production was about 113 million tons of grains, with soy accounting for about 48% of this production (IBGE, 2005). Pesticides have an important role in the development of agricultural
production, in controlling pests and insuring a sustainable agriculture. However, the constant use of chemical pesticides, in an indiscriminate way, causes a reduction of the population of beneficial organisms and induces resistance of the targeted insect pests, which creates even more dependence on chemical products. Therefore, the reduction of the usage of these pesticides in agriculture is of great importance for commercial and environmental reasons. The biological control of insect pests in agriculture is an old practice.
More than 120 years ago, an infestation of citrus fruit production by Icerya purchasi in Florida State (USA) was treated using a ladybug from Australia, a procedure that was later used in other countries, including Brazil (Carvalho et al., 1999). Currently, several bioinsecticides are used for biological control, the most common being insects (wasps, acarids, etc.), bacteria (Bacillus thuringiensis), fungi, or virus (baculovirus). Bioinsecticides based on baculovirus have had a strong impact on the
production of grain. Brazilian research on the use of baculovirus was initiated by EMBRAPA (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) during the 1970s (Moscardi, 1993). Because of this research, currently, soy farming is maintained entirely without the use of chemical pesticides. The biologically treated area exceeds two million hectares, distributed among several different states of Brazil. This is the best worldwide example of large-scale viral biopesticide usage (Ageˆncia Brasil, 2004). In such a system, a species-specific virus is used. In the case of soy
cultivation, this virus is Baculovirus anticarsia, which specifically kills a caterpillar found on the soy – Anticarsia gemmatalis – a defoliating pest that substantially reduces farming productivity. With this bioinsecticide,
