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The days of the infernal toad of sugarcane may soon be over after scientists have created the amphibian DNA code.
International scientists working with UNSW Sydney, the University of Sydney and Deakin University, have opened more than 90% of the toad genome.
The poisonous toads have wreaked havoc on the northern quolls, freshwater crocodiles and several species of native lizards and snakes since their introduction to Queensland in 1935 to help control beetles.
Millions of toads now occupy more than 1.2 million square kilometers of Australia following an apparently inescapable march through the top of the page.
According to virologist professor Peter White, despite the iconic status of the toad, there are major gaps in the understanding of genetics by science.
"But we now have the plan as well as the plans for the factory," said Professor White at AAP.
Professor White's team has already used toad genetics to find three new viruses that, with additional work, could become bio-controls to stem toad walking across the country.
"We will now see how much they are in the population, returning to South America, and then we will see how pathogenic they are," he said.
"If all goes well, they are very pathogenic, and then we can start testing them."
Professor White said the team needed to ensure that any biological controls created would not affect native amphibians.
"We do not want to introduce anything that kills frogs or newts, it has to be specific to the toad," he said.
Viruses have already been used successfully to control the European population of rabbits.
The results were published in the academic journal GigaScience.
-with AAP
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