title: Transgenic tobacco and apple plants expressing biotin-binding proteins are resistant to two cosmopolitan insect pests, potato tuber moth and lightbrown apple moth, respectively.
abstract: Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Samsun) and apple (Malus x domestica cv. Royal Gala) plants expressing avidin or strepavidin were produced using Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. ELISA assays showed that avidin expression ranged from 3.1 to 4.6 microM in tobacco and from 1.9 to 11.2 microM in apple and streptavidin expression ranged from 11.4 to 24.5 microM in tobacco and from 0.4 to 14.6 microM in apple. Expressed at these levels, both biotin-binding proteins conferred a high level of insect resistance on transformed tobacco plants to larval potato tuber moth (PTM), Phthorimaea operculella (Zeller) (fam. Gelechiidae) and on apple plants to larvae of the lightbrown apple moth (LBAM) Epiphyas postvittana (Walker) (fam. Tortricidae). More than 90% of PTM larvae died on tobacco plants expressing either avidin or streptavidin genes within 9 days of inoculation. Mortality of LBAM larvae was significantly higher (P < 0.05) on three avidin-expressing (89.6, 84.9 and 80.1%) and two streptavidin-expressing (90 and 82.5%) apple plant lines than on non-transformed control plants (14.1%) after 21 days. Weight of LBAM larvae was also significantly reduced by feeding on all apple shoots expressing avidin and on apple shoots expressing streptavidin at levels of 3.8 microM and above.
authors.affiliation: The Horticulture and Food Research Institute of New Zealand Ltd, 120 Mt Albert Road, Auckland, New Zealand. nmarkwick@hortresearch.co.nz
authors.forename: Ngaire P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Markwick
authors.forename: Lisa C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Docherty
authors.forename: Margaret M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Phung
authors.forename: Melissa T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Lester
authors.forename: Colleen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.forename: Jia-Long
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Deepali S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Mitra
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Lesley L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Beuning
authors.forename: Sumathi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kutty-Amma
authors.forename: John T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Christeller
mesh_terms: D016960:Agrobacterium tumefaciens / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D001360:Avidin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D007814:Larva / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D027845:Malus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000469:parasitology; D009036:Moths / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010572:Pest Control, Biological; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D019809:Streptavidin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000235:genetics* / Q000469:parasitology; D014170:Transformation, Genetic
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; C017071:biotin-binding proteins; D001360:Avidin; D019809:Streptavidin