Novel biopesticide based on a spider venom peptide shows no adverse effects on honeybees

Nakasu, Erich Yukio Tempel; Williamson, Sally M.; Edwards, Martin G.; Fitches, Elaine; Gatehouse, John A.; Wright, Geraldine A.; Gatehouse, Angharad M. R.

doi:10.1098/rspb.2014.0619

Cited by 58 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Some spider toxins have extreme taxonomic selectivity within Insecta; for example some spider knottins kill German cockroaches ( Blattellla germanica ) but not the closely related American cockroach Periplaneta americana . Moreover, several spider knottins have been isolated that kill a broad range of insect pests but are harmless to bees and beneficial parasitoids, including ω‐hexatoxin‐Hv1a and ω/κ‐hexatoxin‐Hv1a (Spear®), the knottin peptide that has been developed by Vestaron Corporation for control of insects and mites…”

Section: Can Spider Knottins Be Developed As Insecticides?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Tying pest insects in knots: the deployment of spider‐venom‐derived knottins as bioinsecticides

King

2019

Pest Management Science

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Spider venoms are complex chemical arsenals that contain a rich variety of insecticidal toxins. However, the major toxin class in many spider venoms is disulfide‐rich peptides known as knottins. The knotted three‐dimensional fold of these mini‐proteins provides them with exceptional chemical and thermal stability as well as resistance to proteases. In contrast with other bioinsecticides, which are often slow‐acting, spider knottins are fast‐acting neurotoxins. In addition to being potently insecticidal, some knottins have exceptional taxonomic selectivity, being lethal to key agricultural pests but innocuous to vertebrates and beneficial insects such as bees. The intrinsic oral activity of these peptides, combined with the ability of aerosolized knottins to penetrate insect spiracles, has enabled them to be developed commercially as eco‐friendly bioinsecticides. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that spider‐knottin transgenes can be used to engineer faster‐acting entomopathogens and insect‐resistant crops. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry

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Section: Can Spider Knottins Be Developed As Insecticides?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Tying pest insects in knots: the deployment of spider‐venom‐derived knottins as bioinsecticides

King

2019

Pest Management Science

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“…However, recent declines in pollinator populations have affected global agricultural production and impacted both food production and the economy (Potts et al 2010). One of the probable causes for the population declines of pollinators, including honeybees, is the indiscriminate use of pesticides (Klein et al 2007;Potts et al 2010;Nakasu et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pesticide exposure of honeybees (Apis mellifera) pollinating melon crops

et al. 2015

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-The decline of honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) populations impacts global agricultural production and affects both food production and the economy. One of the probable causes for this decline is the indiscriminate use of pesticides. Here, we compare the levels of pesticide exposure among honeybees that are used to pollinate melon (Cucumis melo L.) crops, honeybees that forage in the forest, and stingless bees, Melipona subnitida , that forage in the forest. The level of pesticide exposure was determined by measuring residual pesticide levels of 152 compounds in the honey. Honey samples from the present study contained 19 different pesticides, 13 of which were present in honey from bees pollinating melon crops. The levels of some compounds were sufficiently high to promote toxic effects in the bees. Thus, crop pollination presents a toxicological risk to bees that may reduce their life span. environmental contamination / insecticides / acaricides / herbicides / fungicides / nematicides / multiresidue analysis

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“…These exciting results flag GNA-Hv1a as a promising candidate bioinsecticide for insect pest control, either as an alternative to harmful chemical insecticides or for trait staking or pyramiding with Bt in transgenic crops to widen the targeted pest range and to reduce the risk of resistance development. It was recently shown that an Hv1a-GNA fusion protein has no adverse effects on honeybees (Nakasu et al, 2014), which further highlights the potential of GNA/Hv1a fusion proteins as eco-friendly bioinsecticides.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…Hv1a specifically targets Ca v channels in the insect CNS but is harmless to vertebrates (Fletcher et al, 1997;Tedford et al, 2004a;Tedford et al, 2004b;Chong et al, 2007). This 37-residue peptide has potent insecticidal activity in a wide range of insect orders, including Lepidoptera, Homoptera, and Diptera (Khan et al, 2006;Mukherjee et al, 2006), but it is harmless to honeybees (Nakasu et al, 2014). Thus, Hv1a is considered a strong candidate for development as a novel bioinsecticide (King, 2007a;King and Hardy, 2013;Nakasu et al, 2014).…”

Section: The Insecticidal Spider-venom Peptide ω-Hxtx-hv1amentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This 37-residue peptide has potent insecticidal activity in a wide range of insect orders, including Lepidoptera, Homoptera, and Diptera (Khan et al, 2006;Mukherjee et al, 2006), but it is harmless to honeybees (Nakasu et al, 2014). Thus, Hv1a is considered a strong candidate for development as a novel bioinsecticide (King, 2007a;King and Hardy, 2013;Nakasu et al, 2014). There are three main regions within the three-dimensional structure of Hv1a ( Fig.…”

Section: The Insecticidal Spider-venom Peptide ω-Hxtx-hv1amentioning

confidence: 99%

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Engineering insect-resistant plants by transgenic expression of an insecticidal spider-venom peptide

Alam¹

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The insecticidal spider-venom peptide ω-hexatoxin-Hv1a (Hv1a) from the Australian Blue Mountains funnel-web spider Hadronyche versuta is one of the most potent insect-specific neurotoxins isolated to date. Hv1a blocks voltage-gated calcium channels in the insect central nervous system, a mechanism quite distinct from existing chemical insecticides. It induces a slow-onset paralysis that precedes death in a taxonomically wide range of insects. Hv1a's broad spectrum of target insects, novel mode of action, and absence of toxicity to vertebrates makes the Hv1a gene an attractive tool for generating insectresistant transgenic crops.The oral activity of Hv1a can be enhanced by coupling it to the plant lectin Galanthus nivalis agglutinin (GNA) or with the minor capsid protein of pea enation mosaic virus (CP).Recombinant fusions of Hv1a with GNA were produced using the Pichia pastoris expression system to study the intrinsic insecticidal activity of Hv1a-GNA and GNA-Hv1a fusion proteins. By using injection bioassays with houseflies, we found that the intrinsic insecticidal activity of Hv1a was maintained when it was fused to GNA. Moreover, feeding bioassays with diamondback moth larvae revealed that fusion of Hv1a to GNA, in either orientation, enhances its oral insecticidal activity.In order to generate transgenic plants expressing Hv1a alone or fused to GNA or CP, transformation vectors were constructed by ligating synthesised genes in the pAOV binary vector with the constitutive Cauliflower Mosaic Virus 35S promoter (35S) or the phloem tissue-specific Arabidopsis thaliana SUCROSE TRANSPORTER 2 (SUC2) promoter.Homozygous transgenic Arabidopsis were generated using the floral dip method of Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation and subsequent herbicide selection. PCR of genomic DNA and western blotting were used to confirm integration of the transgenes and protein expression in the transgenic Arabidopsis respectively. Initial experiments revealed a very high level of mortality of Helicoverpa armigera larvae on wild-type plants due to the presence of endogenous glucosinolates, which masked the insecticidal effects of the transgenes Thus, a new set of transgenic plants was generated using an Arabidopsis cyp79B2 cyp79B myb28 myb29 quadruple mutant that lacks endogenous glucosinolates.Bioassays revealed that H. armigera larvae had a lower level of survival and retarded growth when fed on leaves of transgenic Arabidopsis expressing Hv1a toxins under 35S promoter control compared with those fed on gluc-null control plants. Moreover, larval mortality was higher for plants expressing Hv1a/GNA fusions than those expressing Hv1a or GNA alone. The highest larval mortality, lowest larval weight gain, and lowest level of leaf damage were observed for larvae fed on plants expressing GNA-Hv1a. Mortality was extremely high (~90%) for larvae fed on GNA-Hv1a plants for 15 days. The resistance to cotton bollworms conferred by expression of GNA-Hv1a in transgenic Arabidopsis highlights the potential of Hv1a transgenes as an ...

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Novel biopesticide based on a spider venom peptide shows no adverse effects on honeybees

Cited by 58 publications

References 42 publications

Tying pest insects in knots: the deployment of spider‐venom‐derived knottins as bioinsecticides

Tying pest insects in knots: the deployment of spider‐venom‐derived knottins as bioinsecticides

Pesticide exposure of honeybees (Apis mellifera) pollinating melon crops

Engineering insect-resistant plants by transgenic expression of an insecticidal spider-venom peptide

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