Nine insecticide trials were carried out for control of silverleaf whitefly. The evaluation of control performance was greatly hampered by the considerable variation in whitefly numbers. The insecticides acetamiprid, imidacloprid, pymetrozineand trizapentadiene and the mineral oils, DC Tron and Synertrol gave evidence of good control. Bifenthrin showed variable efficacy. Some rotation strategies (pruticularly beta-cyfluthrin followed by imidacloprid and bifenthrin followed by imidacloprid and imidacloprid + Syne1trol followed by betacyfluthrin + Synertrol and bifenthrin + Synertrol followed by imidacloprid + Synertrol) were effective.

The review was initiated by the Australian Cotton Industry Council in response co grower concerns and m part dissatisfaction with aspects of rhe present classing system. 1.1.2 The project was managed by a project sub-committee which included representatives of growers, researchers, classers and shippers.

Objectives The dynamics of beneficial insect communities in cotton agroecosystems and the role of alternative crops in producing natural enemies for cotton * To quantify the seasonal phenology and abundance of key benefi.cials of cotton pests in other parts of the agroecosystem, including uncultivated habitats. * To evaluate the potential of a range of nursery crops for beneficials. some of which may also be effective trap crops for Helicoverpa, and explore methods of integrating them into cotton production systems

A variety of proteins were purified from cotton seeds and were analysed by amino acid sequence determination (automated Edman degradation) and by state-of-the-art electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESMS). The amino acid sequences of about 40 vicilin-related cotton proteins were precisely defined. The molecular masses of the deduced sequences were in agreement with the masses observed by ESMS to within about 1-2 Da (i.e. to within the mass of 1-2 hydrogen atoms). A further major cotton seed protein was purified and shown to be a y-conglutin-related protein with 2 component subunits and a molecular mass of 46250.3 1.3 Da. The vicilin fractions and the yconglutin variously have anti-fungal activity against a wide range of fungi tested including the cotton pathogens Fusarium oxysporum and Verticilium dahliae. This precise work is potentially useful for classical and transgenic approaches to cotton plant breeding for pest resistance. Cotton leaves also contain anti-fungal components and a defensive component with larvicidal activity against the blowfly Lucilia cuprina and the mosquito Aedes camptorhynchus. Large-scale purifcation procedures were developed to enable further biological testing. Protein and non-protein fractions from cotton are variously active as inhibitors of animal cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase and of the proteases trypsin and chymotrypsin

The commonly used Micronaire value for cotton is related to both fibre fineness and maturity. There is a need for a new measurement technique to separate these. This is of particular importance to the Australian industry where varieties of fine mature cotton have the potential to be wrongfully discounted commercially by misinterpreting a low Micronaire value as indicating immaturity in a coarser fibre. Recently CSIRO Division of Wool Technology has developed a new instrument for measuring wool fibre diameter, the Sirolan-Laserscan. It is now in commercial use worldwide. Recent preliminary studies using wool have demonstrated that the Sirolan-Laserscan can be used in a new mode of operation to give independently both the average fineness of a sample as well as information on the fibre cross sectional shape i.e. fibre maturity. This preliminary project was designed to extend these studies to see if the Sirolan-Laserscan, in this new mode of operation, can be applied to cotton. Fourteen cotton samples whose fineness and maturity values had been measured in previous work sponsored by CRDC formed a useful set to evaluate the approach. These samples covered a broad range of both fineness and maturity values. A good correlation was found between the average fibre fineness measured by the Laserscan and the previously reported values. These encouraging preliminary results indicate that, in this novel mode of operation, the Sirolan-Laserscan can be used to determine the average fibre linear density or fineness of cotton samples. Following this successful preliminary study the next stage will be to examine possibilities of simultaneously measuring fibre maturity using the Sirolan Laserscan and the scope for scaling up the technique from the laboratory to become a useful commercial measurement technique

I attended the 7th International Verticillium Conference, held in Greece from 6th-10th October, 1997. I was invited to present a keynote paper giving an overview of the propects for the use of genetically engineered crops for control of vascular wilt diseases. In addition I presented a paper describing experimental results obtained with transgenic cotton plants expressing either glucose oxidase or chitinase. These two presentations were submitted as papers for inclusion in the published Conference Proceedings. A detailed report on the scientific results presented at the meeeting is attached. This report will be circulated to colleagues via the Covert newsletter. O Various valuable contacts were renewed (with Jane Robb, University of Guelph; and Kathy Dobinson, Agriculture Canada) and new contacts made with opportunities for collaborative research emerging. I will collaborate with Richard Cooper (University of Bath) to investigate the role of sulphur in tolerance of cotton to Venicillium wilt and with Oen Huisman (University of California, Berkeley) to use fluorescent antibodies to study Verticillium infection of transgenic cotton. I may be able to obtain constructs for generation of Venicillium expressing green iluorescent protein from Mary Powelson (Oregon State University).

OBJECTIVES OF TRAVEL To attend the 1 lth Biennial Conference of the Australasian Plant Pathology Society (APPS), present a paper on recent research from CRDC Project DANlOOC and attend a practical workshop on disease management at the conference. To meet and interact with leading pathologists and mycorrhizologists from the Australasian region.

Dr Christian was invited to attend the USDA-ARS's Helicoverpa/Heliothis (H/H) Meeting in College Station Texas on 7 and 8 October 1997. This meeting is the major meeting of AAS scientists involved in H/H research in the US and is only held every 3 years (the last meeting held in Texas in 1994 - which Dr Christian also attended). In addition to USDA staff, the invitation to attend the meeting was also extended to all other researchers in the US working on H/H. The meeting provided an excellent opportunity for interactions with USDA's scientists involved in H/H research and the only chance to meet, in one place, many of the scientists working in this area in the USA. This meeting also formed part of the USDA's planning process for H/H research for the next five years and therefore provided a valuable insight into the () directions that will be taken in this area of research in the USA during this timeframe. () In addition to attending the meeting in Texas, Dr Christian also visited collaborators at the USDA's laboratories in Columbia Mo. to discuss future collaborations on NPVs for control of Helicoverpa. This collaboration has been on-going for the last several years and has provided the foundation for much of the host range testing that has been carried out in the program Genetic Engineering of Helicoverpa NPVs.

Objectives: To purchase a new autosampler in order to provide faster, more accurate analysis of cotton samples.

This Project has provided the Department of Primary Industries cotton Development Extension Officers with good quality portable computers and mobile telephones ensuring maximum effectiveness of their role in the cotton industry extension programs for the development and demonstration of cotton decision support systems and packages as an integral part of field trials and demonstrations and in industry workshops