Biopesticides ─ State of the Art and Future Opportunities

Resistance to conventional pesticides has been growing rapidly among all pests. Furthermore, there is increased public concern about the safety of conventional pesticides, and increased governmental restrictions have resulted in the need to identify new compounds that are safe and effective in controlling pests that are of concern to agriculture as well as to public and animal health. Biopesticides may aid in the control of such pests with fewer deleterious effects to the environment, people and animals. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines biopesticides as "pesticides derived from such natural materials as animals, plants, bacteria, and certain minerals" (www.epa.gov). According to the U.S. EPA's website in 2014 there were more than 430 registered biopesticides along with 1320 active product registrations. Biopesticides have seen a recent growth, which is partially due to increased advances in biotechnological tools for pest control. However, the growth has been largely spurred by the growing needs for new tools to fight pesticide resistance and safer and more benign means of pest management.

This volume and the chapters contained within it resulted from the "Biopesticides: State of the Art and Future Opportunities" symposium held at the 246th ACS National Meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, September 8-12, 2013. The symposium was comprised of 38 papers in five sessions: The Big Picture, Repellents and Attractants, Insecticides and Nematicides, Products from Genetic Improvements, and Economic, Regulatory and Future Needs.Biopesticides: State of the Art and Future Opportunities offers a wealth of information that will enrich the knowledge of experts in the field of biopesticide research.

Aaron D. Gross (Ph.D., Iowa State University) is currently a Postdoctoral Associate at the Emerging Pathogens Institute at the University of Florida. He graduated from Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Ames, IA, in 2014 with a Ph.D. in Toxicology, and minors in Entomology and Neuroscience. His main research interests are in agrochemical discovery, and in understanding the biochemical and neurophysiological mechanism of action of both naturally occurring and synthetic pesticides.

Joel R. Coats (Ph.D., University of Illinois) is the Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor of Entomology and Toxicology in the Department of Entomology at Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Ames, IA. His research focuses on natural products as insecticides and repellents, as well as the environmental fate and effect of agrochemicals. He has mentored a total of 44 graduate students who received advanced degrees in his laboratory. He has published 144 refereed journal articles, 42 book chapters, 7 review articles, and 11 books; he also holds 9 patents. He is a fellow of the AAAS, the ESA, and the AGRO Division of ACS.

Stephen O. Duke (Ph.D., Duke University) is Research Leader of the Natural Products Utilization Research Unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Oxford, Mississippi. Most of his research is on discovery and development of natural product-based pest management products. He is Chair of the Agrochemicals Division (AGRO) of ACS and has authored or co-authored more than 400 journal articles and book chapters, edited or co-edited 7 previous books, and co-authored one book. His honors include Fellow of AAAS, AGRO, and the Weed Science Society of America and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the Basque Country (Bilbao, Spain). He is Editor-in-Chief of Pest Management Science.

James N. Seiber (Ph.D., Chemistry, Utah State University) is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, and Professor Emeritus of Environmental Toxicology at the University of California, Davis. He is past Director of the Western Regional Research Center, USDA Agricultural Research Service in Albany, CA, and past Director of the Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno. He and his students have published over 300 research manuscripts, books, and book chapters, primarily in the areas of pesticide and environmental contaminant transport and fate, analytical method development, and chemical ecology and food safety. He is past Chair of the ACS Division of Agrochemicals, and is a Fellow of ACS and AAAS.