Hi Ron,
You asked regarding antibiotic resistance in AFB:
"Has anyone mapped the geographical spread of the resistance? Eg, Did it
start in the corn or cotton or rape or soy belts?"

It was first documented here in the midwest USA Wisconsin first than quickly here in Minnesota in the corn/ soybeans production area.  Much of the cropland here in the upper midwest is farmed on a corn - soybean rotation at present so yes the resistance was first documented in areas where roundup-ready soybeans were planted.  One complication is that this is also a major honey production area but the corn/bean growing don't entirely overlap the major honey producing areas but there is much planting of the GM roundup ready soybeans in areas with many colonies of honey bees here and in fact soybeans are an important honey source in some of these areas at least in some years.  The conditions for the possible transfer of such transgenes are readily met over a large area of the upper midwest USA.

Does this answer your question?

FWIW

blane




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Blane White
MN Dept of Agriculture
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