Transgenic sugarcane overexpressing CaneCPI-1 negatively affects the growth and development of the sugarcane weevil Sphenophorus levis

Autor(es)

Schneider, Vanessa Karine ; Soares-Costa, Andrea ; Chakravarthi, Mohan ; Ribeiro, Carolina ; Chabregas, Sabrina Moutinho ; Falco, Maria Cristina ; Henrique-Silva, Flavio

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: Plant Cell Reports; v. 36, n. 1, p. 193-201, JAN 2017.
• Citações Web of Science: 4

Resumo

Transgenic sugarcane expressing CaneCPI-1 exhibits resistance to Sphenophorus levis larvae. Transgenic plants have widely been used to improve resistance against insect attack. Sugarcane is an economically important crop; however, great losses are caused by insect attack. Sphenophorus levis is a sugarcane weevil that digs tunnels in the stem base, leading to the destruction of the crop. This insect is controlled inefficiently by chemical insecticides. Transgenic plants expressing peptidase inhibitors represent an important strategy for impairing insect growth and development. Knowledge of the major peptidase group present in the insect gut is critical when choosing the most effective inhibitor. S. levis larvae use cysteine peptidases as their major digestive enzymes, primarily cathepsin L-like activity. In this study, we developed transgenic sugarcane plants that overexpress sugarcane cysteine peptidase inhibitor 1 (CaneCPI-1) and assessed their potential through feeding bioassays with S. levis larvae. Cystatin overexpression in the transgenic plants was evaluated using semi-quantitative RT-PCR, RT-qPCR, and immunoblot assays. A 50% reduction of the average weight was observed in larvae that fed on transgenic plants in comparison to larvae that fed on non-transgenic plants. In addition, transgenic sugarcane exhibited less damage caused by larval attack than the controls. Our results suggest that the overexpression of CaneCPI-1 in sugarcane is a promising strategy for improving resistance against this insect. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 05/59833-5 - Desenvolvimento de canas-de-acucar transgenicas superexpressando cistatinas visando o aumento da resistencia a insetos.
• Beneficiário: Andrea Soares da Costa Fuentes
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 13/05370-0 - Desenvolvimento de linhagens de cana-de-açúcar transgênica superexpressando inibidores de peptidases visando resistência ao inseto Migdolus fryanus
• Beneficiário: Vanessa Karine Schneider
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Doutorado Direto
• Processo FAPESP: 98/14138-2 - Center for Structural Molecular Biotechnology
• Beneficiário: Glaucius Oliva
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Centros de Pesquisa, Inovação e Difusão - CEPIDs