Department of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
Sci Rep. 2023 Aug 14;13(1):13181. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-39965-y.
Chitinase-producing fungi have now engrossed attention as one of the potential agents for the control of insect pests. Entomopathogenic fungi are used in different regions of the world to control economically important insects. However, the role of fungal chitinases are not well studied in their infection mechanism to insects. In this study, Chitinase of entomopathogenic fungi Trichoderma longibrachiatum was evaluated to control Aphis gossypii. For this purpose, fungal chitinase (Chit1) gene from the genomic DNA of T. longibrachiatum were isolated, amplified and characterised. Genomic analysis of the amplified Chit1 showed that this gene has homology to family 18 of glycosyl hydrolyses. Further, Chit1 was expressed in the cotton plant for transient expression through the Geminivirus-mediated gene silencing vector derived from Cotton Leaf Crumple Virus (CLCrV). Transformed cotton plants showed greater chitinase activity than control, and they were resistant against nymphs and adults of A. gossypii. About 38.75% and 21.67% mortality of both nymphs and adults, respectively, were observed by using Chit1 of T. longibrachiatum. It is concluded that T. longibrachiatum showed promising results in controlling aphids by producing fungal chitinase in cotton plants and could be used as an effective method in the future.
产几丁质酶的真菌已成为控制害虫的潜在手段之一，引起了人们的关注。昆虫病原真菌被广泛应用于世界不同地区来防治具有重要经济意义的昆虫。然而，真菌几丁质酶在其感染昆虫的机制中的作用尚未得到充分研究。在这项研究中，评估了昆虫病原真菌长枝木霉的几丁质酶来防治棉蚜。为此，从长枝木霉的基因组 DNA 中分离、扩增和鉴定了真菌几丁质酶（Chit1）基因。对扩增的 Chit1 的基因组分析表明，该基因与糖苷水解酶家族 18 具有同源性。此外，通过来源于棉花曲叶病毒（CLCrV）的双生病毒介导的基因沉默载体，在棉花植物中瞬时表达 Chit1。转化的棉花植物比对照表现出更高的几丁质酶活性，并且对棉蚜的若虫和成虫具有抗性。使用长枝木霉的 Chit1 分别观察到约 38.75%和 21.67%的若虫和成虫死亡率。研究表明，长枝木霉通过在棉花植物中产生真菌几丁质酶来控制蚜虫，显示出有前景的结果，并且可能成为未来的一种有效方法。
