Colorado Agriculture

Colorado Agriculture

How Colorado potato beetles beat pesticides. New research shows that pesticides alter how Colorado potato beetles manage their DNA. These epigenetic changes were passed down two generations suggesting that rapid resistance to pesticides may not require beetles to evolve their genetic code. Instead they may simply use existing genes to tolerate toxins already found in potatoes. The scientists were surprised that these epigenetic changes, triggered by tiny doses of pesticide, were maintained through multiple rounds of sexual reproduction. Source 2f.