BANP - RAFBCA Research

EU funded

The RAFBCA project was funded by the European Commission under the Fifth Framework Programme, Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources Programme (QoL), Key Action 1 - Food, Nutrition and Health, (Contract n^oQLK1-CT-2001-01391).

Ten partners from nine counties cooperated in this project from November 2001 to October 2004. They generated data that could help address key registration questions for biological control agents (BCAs). The overall aim of this unique project was to establish if metabolites produced by fungal BCAs entered the food chain and if they posed a risk to human and animal health.

Identification and Detection of Metabolites

The RAFBCA team has identified efficacious strains of mycoinsecticides (Beauveria brongniartii, Metarhizium anisopliae, Verticillium lecanii), mycofungicides (Gliocladium spp., Trichoderma harzianum), and a mycoherbicide (Stagonospora convolvuli) and the major metabolites secreted by these fungi (oosporein, destruxins, gliotoxin, peptaibols, elsinochrome A). They have generated data that provide a better understanding of the type and quantity of the selected major metabolites as well as their distribution and regulation.

All the partners have been involved in field and glasshouse trials under commercial/semi-commercial conditions to determine the fate of fungal BCAs and their metabolites in the food chain (eg. lettuce, cucumber, tomato, potato, maize) and plant growing media. They have shown that BCA metabolites do not enter the food chain or pose a risk to consumer and animal health, nor pose environmental problems.

Benefits to SMEs, Consumers and Growers

RAFBCA have shown that the selected fungal BCAs do not pose a risk to human and animal health and the environment. This strengthens the argument for their use as safe alternatives to chemical pesticides. They could be used as part of integrated crop protection programmes, which reduce or eliminate the use of harmful chemicals. This should encourage commercial development of fungal BCAs and ultimately result in wealth and job creation as demand for these products increases.

Case Studies: Mycoinsecticides and Mycoherbicides

Safe for humans and the environment

RAFBCA's Achievements

DEFRA's programme management committee reviewed the RAFBCA project and scored the projects on whether it achieved the targets it set out to, whether the research was of high quality and whether the output was of significance. Please follow this link to see DEFRA's response. DEFRA scoring letter

Special Awards

Austrian Environmental Award 2001

The company F. Joh. Kwizda GmbH., represented by DI Roger Teuber-Weckersdorf and Dr Josef Raffalt, was honoured for the development of the biological insecticide Melocont Pilzgerste.

German Environmental Award 2002

Dr Peter Lueth (managing director of Prophyta GmbH) was honoured with the German Environmental Award 2002 by the German Federal Environmental Foundation for his contribution to plant protection. Dr Lueth and his team have developed several biological control agents.

Scientific Achievements

1. Identified and characterised the major metabolites produced by selected fungal BCAs developed methods and tools to conduct a targeted risk assessment -making this more reliable and industry more competitive. Some of the methods and tools include:

2. Developed methods and tools to conduct a targeted risk assessment - making this more reliable and industry more competitive. Some of the methods and tools include:

a) Molecular probes to monitor several important fungal BCAs in the environment

b) Highly sensitive SF-9 insect cell-line -more sensitive than mammalian cell-lines to a wide range of fungal metabolites

c) Extraction methods that give good recovery and repeatability

3. RAFBCA has conducted glasshouse and field trials, which show that fungal metabolites do not enter the food chain or pose a risk to consumer and animal health, nor pose environmental problems.

Dissemination

1. Consortium has produced flyers and disseminated results through numerous international scientific journals, and via oral presentations at national and international symposia.

2. The RAFBCA team has organised three highly successful workshops:

a) Helsinki, August 2004 in collaboration with the SIP, IBMA and IOBC

b) Brussels, September 2004 in collaboration with the IOBC

c) Innsbruck, October 2004

3. The original RAFBCA website (http://www.rafbca.com) which has now been archived, was visited by numerous groups from all over the world.

Contributions to EC Policy

RAFBCA impacts on Directive 91/414/EEC and Directive 2001/36/EEC (data required on microbial BCAs in Annexes II and III Part B) by showing that the evaluation of fungal metabolites during the registration of BCAs could be simplified.
The RAFBCA consortium has generated new data that can be used to develop a new risk assessment strategy that could help accelerate risk assessment of fungal metabolites and reduce registration costs.
The RAFBCA team have devised strategies that could lead to a more balanced system for risk assessment and registration -and enable the EC to compete with the USA and other countries.
RAFBCA have data that could help end users (policymakers, registration authorities, industry) and the public in making more informed decisions about fungal BCAs.

Development of Tools and Methodologies

Our research

The RAFBCA team has developed methods and tools to conduct a targeted risk assessment - making this more reliable and industry more competitive. Standard Operating Protocols will be published. Some of the RAFBCA achievements include:

Development of molecular probes to monitor several important fungal BCAs in the environment;
Identification of highly sensitive SF-9 insect cell-line - more sensitive than mammalian cell-lines to a wide range of fungal metabolites;
Identification of highly sensitive single cell organism (Paramecium caudatum) and invertebrates (Artemia salina, Daphnia magna) - very sensitive to metabolites and crude extracts of fungal BACs;
Development of extraction methods that give good recovery and repeatability;
Evaluation of the Ames and Vitotox tests, which showed that pure metabolites and crude extracts from BCAs were not genotoxic or mutagenic;
Protocols for testing crude extracts from BCAs as time and cost-efficient alternatives to the testing of individual metabolites.