Department of Entomology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 May 21;110(21):8465-70. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1222144110. Epub 2013 May 6.
Although transgenic crops expressing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins have been used successfully for management of lepidopteran and coleopteran pest species, the sap-sucking insects (Hemiptera) are not particularly susceptible to Bt toxins. To overcome this limitation, we demonstrate that addition of a short peptide sequence selected for binding to the gut of the targeted pest species serves to increase toxicity against said pest. Insertion of a 12-aa pea aphid gut-binding peptide by adding to or replacing amino acids in one of three loops of the Bt cytolytic toxin, Cyt2Aa, resulted in enhanced binding and toxicity against both the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, and the green peach aphid, Myzus persicae. This strategy may allow for transgenic plant-mediated suppression of other hemipteran pests, which include some of the most important pests of global agriculture.
尽管表达苏云金芽孢杆菌（Bt）毒素的转基因作物已成功用于鳞翅目和鞘翅目害虫的防治，但吸食汁液的昆虫（半翅目）对 Bt 毒素并不特别敏感。为了克服这一局限性，我们证明添加一段针对目标害虫物种肠道选择的短肽序列可提高针对所述害虫的毒性。通过添加或替换 Bt 细胞溶解毒素 Cyt2Aa 的三个环之一中的氨基酸，插入 12 个氨基酸豌豆蚜肠道结合肽，导致豌豆蚜 Acyrthosiphon pisum 和桃蚜 Myzus persicae 的结合和毒性增强。该策略可能允许通过转基因植物介导抑制其他半翅目害虫，其中包括一些对全球农业最重要的害虫。
