Q.What are Biopesticides ? Give some examples. OR Write some applications of tissue culture.
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Biopesticides are naturally occurring, biology-based pest-control agents (bacteria, fungi, viruses, or plant products) that control pests/pathogens without the environmental damage of synthetic chemical pesticides. This question offers a choice — both parts are answered.
Part (i): Biopesticides
Biopesticides are biological agents — derived from bacteria, fungi, viruses or plants — used to control pests, weeds and plant diseases in place of harmful synthetic chemical pesticides.
Examples:
- Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) — a soil bacterium that produces crystal (Cry) protein toxins lethal specifically to the larvae of particular insects (e.g. lepidopteran pests of cotton, tobacco). Bt spore/toxin powder is used as a spray, and the toxin gene is also engineered directly into crops (e.g. Bt cotton, Bt brinjal) so the plant itself produces the toxin.
- Trichoderma species — free-living fungi that act as effective biocontrol agents against several plant pathogenic (root-rot causing) fungi.
- Baculoviruses (e.g. Nucleopolyhedrovirus, NPV) — pathogens that attack insects and other arthropods; most are species-specific, narrow-spectrum agents ideal for pest control programmes with no adverse impact on plants, mammals, birds, fish or non-target insects.
Biopesticides are preferred because they are target-specific, biodegradable, and do not cause the ecological damage, bioaccumulation, or resistance build-up associated with chemical pesticides.
Part (ii), OR: Applications of tissue culture
- Micropropagation — rapid clonal multiplication of genetically identical, disease-free plants from a small explant.
- Production of virus-free plants via meristem-tip culture.
- Germplasm conservation — cryopreservation of cultured tissue for conserving rare/endangered plant genetic resources. …
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