The New Zealand Institute of Plant and Food Research Ltd., Private Bag 11030, Manawatu Mail Centre, 4442, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Transgenic Res. 2010 Dec;19(6):1041-51. doi: 10.1007/s11248-010-9380-y. Epub 2010 Mar 10.
The high affinity biotin-binding proteins (BBPs) avidin and streptavidin are established insecticidal agents, effective against a range of insect pests. Earlier work showed that, when expressed in planta, full length avidin and a truncated form of streptavidin are highly insecticidal. More recently, a wide range of BBPs, found in diverse organisms or engineered for various biotechnological applications have been reported. However, their effectiveness as plant-based insecticides has not been established. Here we report in planta expression of three different genes, designed to produce BBP variant proteins in the vacuole. The first was mature full length chicken avidin, the second a circularly permuted dual chain chicken avidin, and the third was an avidin homologue, a native bradavidin from Bradyrhyzobium japonicum. All three proteins were expressed in Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco). The transgenic tobacco lines were healthy, phenotypically normal and, when subjected to bioassay, resistant to the important cosmopolitan pest, potato tuber moth (Phthorimaea operculella) larvae at concentrations of ~50 ppm.
高亲和力生物素结合蛋白（BBP）亲和素和链霉亲和素是已确立的杀虫剂，对多种害虫有效。早期的工作表明，当在植物中表达时，全长亲和素和链霉亲和素的一种截断形式具有很高的杀虫活性。最近，已经报道了在不同生物体中发现的或为各种生物技术应用而设计的广泛的 BBP。然而，它们作为植物源杀虫剂的有效性尚未得到证实。在这里，我们报告了三种不同基因在植物体内的表达，这些基因旨在在液泡中产生 BBP 变体蛋白。第一个是成熟的全长鸡亲和素，第二个是环状排列的双链鸡亲和素，第三个是亲和素同源物，一种来自根瘤菌（Bradyrhyzobium japonicum）的天然 bradavidin。这三种蛋白质都在烟草（Nicotiana tabacum）中表达。转基因烟草系生长健康，表型正常，在生物测定中，当浓度约为 50ppm 时，对重要的世界性害虫马铃薯块茎蛾（Phthorimaea operculella）幼虫具有抗性。
