Virus-derived genes for insect-resistant transgenic plants.

Insect viruses have evolved to counter physiological barriers to infection presented by the host insect. For the Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), these barriers include (1) the peritrophic membrane (PM) lining the gut, which presents a physical barrier to virus infection of the midgut epithelial cells, (2) the basement membrane (BM) that overlies the gut thereby restricting secondary infection of other tissues, and (3) the immune system of the host insect. Hence, insect viruses provide a resource for genes that disrupt host physiology in a specific manner, and these genes in turn serve as a resource both for the study of physiological processes, and for disruption of these processes for pest management purposes. There are several examples of the application of genes used by an insect virus to overcome the PM barrier for production of insect-resistant transgenic plants. There are other examples of intrahemocoelic effectors, such as BM-degrading proteases that can only be used with an appropriate system for delivery of the agent from the gut into the hemocoel (body cavity) of the insect pest. In this chapter, we describe (1) baculovirus- and entomopoxvirus-derived genes that alter the physiology of the host insect, (2) use of these and homologous genes for production of insect-resistant transgenic plants, (3) other viral genes that have potential for use in development of insect-resistant transgenic plants, and (4) the use of plant lectins for delivery of intrahemocoelic toxins from transgenic plants. Plant expression of polydnavirus-derived genes is described by Gill et al. (this volume, pp. 393-426).