Technologies > Cys-motif Protein Technology
Cys-motif Protein Technology
The essentially exclusive reliance on the Bacillus thuringiensis-toxin proteins as transgenic insect control agent poses risks that would threaten our food and fiber supply should insects develop resistance to these toxin proteins.
ParaTechs, in collaboration with the University of Kentucky, developed an alternative technology, the cys-motif protein technology, to the use of Bt toxin proteins in plants (Bt plants) to control insect damage. The cys-motif genes are derived from insect parasites and viruses that kill lepidopteran (caterpillar) larvae. Several cys-motif proteins were evaluated to identify the variant having the most potential for commercialization. Insect growth and development is delayed when larvae are feeding on insect diet supplemented with a single purified cys-motif protein or consuming transgenic plants expressing one of these genes. Furthermore, we have shown that lepidopteran larvae that have ingested a cys-motif protein with their diet are more susceptible to infection by other biological control agents such as baculovirus.
The proprietary cys-motif protein technology is currently under development and the technology has not been commercialized.
Tobacco budworm larval growth is reduced when feeding on insect diet supplemented with ParaTechs' cys-motif proteins. Cys-motif proteins (0.5 µg) were applied to insect diet and fresh weight of larvae feeding on this diet was determined and pictures were taken after 7d. VHv1.1 is the most potent insecticidal cys-motif protein tested.
For additional reading on the cys-motif protein technology see also:
Gill T.A., Fath-Goodin A., Maiti I.B., and Webb B.A. (2006). Potential uses of Cys-motif and other polydnavirus genes in biotechnology. Advances in Virus Research 68, pp 393-426.
Fath-Goodin A, Gill T.A., Martin S.B., and Webb, B.A. (2006). Effect of Campoletis sonorensis ichnovirus cys-motif proteins on Heliothis virescens larval development. Journal of Insect Physiology 52 (6), 576-585.
Maiti I.B., Dey N, Pattanaik S, Dahlman D.L., Rana R.L., and Webb B.A. (2003). Antibiosis-type insect resistance in transgenic plants expressing a teratocyte secretory protein (TSP14) gene from a hymenopteran endoparasite (Microplitis croceipes). Plant Biotechnology Journal 1 (3), 209-219.