Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Transgenic plants expressing -ACTX-Hv1a and snowdrop lectin (GNA) fusion protein show enhanced resistance to aphids

Nakasu, Erich Y.T.; Edwards, Martin G.; Fitches, Elaine C.; Gatehouse, John A.; Gatehouse, Angharad M.R.

Transgenic plants expressing -ACTX-Hv1a and snowdrop lectin (GNA) fusion protein show enhanced resistance to aphids Thumbnail


Authors

Erich Y.T. Nakasu

Martin G. Edwards

John A. Gatehouse

Angharad M.R. Gatehouse



Abstract

Recombinant fusion proteins containing arthropod toxins have been developed as a new class of biopesticides. The recombinant fusion protein Hv1a/GNA, containing the spider venom toxin w-ACTX-Hv1a linked to snowdrop lectin (GNA) was shown to reduce survival of the peach-potato aphid Myzus persicae when delivered in artificial diet, with survival <10% after 8 days exposure to fusion protein at 1 mg/ml. Although the fusion protein was rapidly degraded by proteases in the insect, Hv1a/GNA oral toxicity to M. persicae was significantly greater than GNA alone. A construct encoding the fusion protein, including the GNA leader sequence, under control of the constitutive CaMV 35S promoter was transformed into Arabidopsis; the resulting plants contained intact fusion protein in leaf tissues at an estimated level of 25.6±4.1 ng/mg FW. Transgenic Arabidopsis expressing Hv1a/GNA induced up to 40% mortality of M. persicae after seven days exposure in detached leaf bioassays, demonstrating that transgenic plants can deliver fusion proteins to aphids. Grain aphids (Sitobion avenae) were more susceptible than M. persicae to the Hv1a/GNA fusion protein in artificial diet bioassays (LC50=0.73 mg/ml after two days against LC50=1.81 mg/ml for M. persicae), as they were not able to hydrolyze the fusion protein as readily as M. persicae. Expression of this fusion protein in suitable host plants for the grain aphid is likely to confer higher levels of resistance than that shown with the M. persicae/Arabidopsis model system.

Citation

Nakasu, E. Y., Edwards, M. G., Fitches, E. C., Gatehouse, J. A., & Gatehouse, A. M. (2014). Transgenic plants expressing -ACTX-Hv1a and snowdrop lectin (GNA) fusion protein show enhanced resistance to aphids. Frontiers in Plant Science, 5, Article 673. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2014.00673

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Nov 28, 2014
Deposit Date Nov 13, 2014
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Frontiers in Plant Science
Publisher Frontiers Media
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 5
Article Number 673
DOI https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2014.00673
Keywords Insect-resistant transgenic plants, Myzus persicae, Arabidopsis, Hv1a/GNA, Fusion proteins, Sitobion avenae.

Files

Accepted Journal Article (1.2 Mb)
PDF

Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
Copyright: © 2014 Nakasu, Edwards, Fitches, Gatehouse and Gatehouse. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.





You might also like



Downloadable Citations