WE PROPOSE TO TEST THE TOXICITY OF NOVEL INSECTICIDAL PROTEINS FROM TWO ENTOMOPATHOGENIC NEMATODES (EPNS), INSECT-PARASITIC NEMATODES THAT RAPIDLY KILL THEIR HOSTS, WHICH HAVE RECENTLY BEEN SHOWN TO SECRETE INSECTICIDAL PROTEINS INTO THEIR HOSTS.WE HAVE RECENTLY SHOWN THAT BOTH S. CARPOCAPSAE AND S. FELTIAE RELEASE NEMATODE-DERIVED TOXINS INTO THEIR HOSTS AND HERE PROPOSE TO EVALUATE THEIR POTENTIAL USEFULNESS IN BIOLOGICAL CONTROL.OUR LAB HAS LONG-TERM GOALS OF BETTER UNDERSTANDING HOST-PARASITE INTERACTIONS, BIOLOGICAL CONTROL, AND THE MOLECULAR FACTORS INVOLVED IN EPN KILLING OF INSECT PESTS. ALTHOUGH EPNS ARE USED GLOBALLY IN INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS, IT REMAINS UNCLEAR WHY THEIR EFFICACY IN CONTROLLING PESTS IN THE FIELD IS INCONSISTENT. THE RESEARCH IN THIS PROPOSAL IS TO CHARACTERIZE CANDIDATE INSECTICIDAL PROTEINS RELEASED BY S. CARPOCAPSAE AND S. FELTIAE AND TO DETERMINE THEIR POTENTIAL USEFULNESS IN INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT.