Plant‐insect interactions: what can we learn from plant lectins?

Abstract

Many plant lectins have high anti-insect potential. Although the effects of most lectins are only moderately influencing development or population growth of the insect, some lectins have strong insecticidal properties. In addition, some studies report a deterrent activity towards feeding and oviposition behavior. Transmission of plant lectins to the next trophic level has been investigated for several tritrophic interactions. Effects of lectins with different sugar specificities can vary substantially with the insect species under investigation and with the experimental setup. Lectin binding in the insect is an essential step in exerting a toxic effect. Attempts have been made to study the interactions of lectins in several insect tissues and to identify lectin-binding receptors. Ingested lectins generally bind to parts of the insect gut. Furthermore, some lectins such as the Galanthus nivalus agglutinin (GNA) cross the gut epithelium into the hemolymph and other tissues. Recently, several candidate lectinbinding receptors have been isolated from midgut extracts. To date little is known about the exact mechanism for insecticidal activity of plant lectins. However, insect glycobiology is an emerging research field and the recent Grant sponsor: Fund for Scientific Research-Flanders, Brussels; Grant number: 3G016306.Correspondence to: Guy Smagghe, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. E-mail: guy.smagghe@ugent.be Vol. 73, No. 4, 193-212 (2010 ARCHIVES OF INSECT BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY,

Lectinas Con Dominio De Leguminosa: Características Estructurales Y Utilidad Como Agentes Insectistáticos E Insecticidas

“…Este efecto parece ser dosis dependiente, ya que dosis del 2% (p/p) tiene una mayor efecto que dosis del 0,2% (Machuka et al, 2000). Aunque el mecanismo por el cual estas lectinas afectan el tamaño y el desarrollo de las larvas no ha sido completamente dilucidado, se piensa que está mediado por la unión de las lectinas ingeridas a las células epiteliales del intestino, lo que afecta la absorción de nutrientes, la función secretora del intestino y el metabolismo (Gatehouse et al, 1984;Sauvion et al, 2004a;Van Damme, 2008;Michiels et al, 2010).…”

“…El mecanismo preciso de acción de las lectinas vegetales sobre los insectos aún no se conoce completamente, pero hay evidencias que muestran que la unión de la lectina a moléculas glicosiladas en el intestino del insecto es un prerrequisito para la toxicidad (Van Damme, 2008;Michiels et al, 2010). Esta hipótesis se basa en la presencia de N-glicanos en el intestino medio de los insectos (Fig.…”

“…Las lectinas de origen vegetal al ser ingeridas (Vasconcelos y Oliveira, 2004;Vandenborre et al, 2011;Al Atalah et al, 2014) interaccionan con proteínas glicosiladas de las células del intestino (Vasconcelos y Oliveira, 2004;Michiels et al, 2010) lo que genera efectos anti-nutricionales (Sauvion et al, 2004a;Upadhyay y Singh, 2012), reproductivos (Sadeghi et al, 2006) y tóxicos en las larvas de los insectos que los consumen (Melander et al, 2003;Lehrman et al, 2007a;Delatorre et al, 2007;Al Atalah et al, 2014). Es interesante mencionar que estas proteínas son inocuas en humanos y en algunos larvas de insectos benéficos (Vasconcelos y Oliveira, 2004;Lehrman, 2007b;Vandenborre et al, 2011).…”

Two legume defense proteins suppress the mobility of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells

“…Though the defending mechanism of plants is not as distinct as that in mammals, they definitely have a defense system against pathogens and plants under threat can react with alterations in morphology, structural features and production of chemicals to augment resistance against the threat 1 . The expression of defense proteins, like lectins/hemagglutinins 2,3 , anti-fungal proteins 4 , ribosome inactivating proteins 5 , protease inhibitors 6 , etc., is one of the common strategies adopted by plants. As one of the defense proteins in plants, protease inhibitors have been isolated from a variety of plants, like Moringa oleifera flowers 7 , buckwheat 8 , legumes and Lawsonia inermis 9 .…”

Computational and Real-Time RT-PCR Expression Analyses of Garlic Lectin Gene

“…When wheat is infested with Hessain fly (Mayetiola destructor), it triggers the expression of jacalin-like lectin. Examples of constitutive lectin include garlic lectins, Amaranthus caudatus galactose specific lectin, jackbean lectin from Concanavalin A, and Ricin B lectins (Sauvion et al, 2004;Michiels et al, 2010).…”