Harnessing Natural Plant Defense Pathways To Control The Diamondback Moth

Plutella xylostella (diamondback moth, DBM) is a major pest for Brassica crops that causes £3.5 billion in damage each year. Given issues such as resistance to and environmental impact of insecticides, sustainable approaches to DBM management are urgently needed. The proposed research aims to expose vulnerabilities of DBM in its rhythmic and coordinated interactions with host plants and its inherent attraction to non-host plants expressing toxic metabolites. The outcome of this research might be exploited in new intervention strategies