There is a need to develop technologies that can be used to rapidly detect and quantify pest infestations in bulk grain to assist in the management of these biosecurity threats. This project aims to identify and characterise pheromone receptors in the genome of Tribolium castaneum, common insect pest of stored grain.

What is the biosecurity problem?

Australia's post-harvest grain industry faces serious biosecurity threats from endemic and exotic pests. Technology to detect all forms of these pests is required to protect the harvest and minimise the risk of resistance development and spread.

The main outputs of this project are to:

• isolate candidate olfactory receptor genes from Tribolium genome

• establish in vitro methods of screening olfactory receptors, and

• identify Tribolium olfactory receptors responsible for detecting volatiles from infested grain.

Who will be the end-users of this research?

This project will determine the feasability of developing a novel platform i.e. Tribolium-detecting biosensor for commercial use in the grain supply chain, which because of the innate sensitivity of the pheromone detection it is likely to be far superior compared to existing approaches.