title: Expression of Aedes trypsin-modulating oostatic factor on the virion of TMV: A potential larvicide.
abstract: We report the engineering of the surface of the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) virion with a mosquito decapeptide hormone, trypsin-modulating oostatic factor (TMOF). The TMV coat protein (CP) was fused to TMOF at the C terminus by using a read-through, leaky stop codon that facilitated expression of CP and chimeric CP-TMOF (20:1 ratio) that were coassembled into virus particles in infected Nicotiana tabacum. Plants that were infected with the hybrid TMV RNA accumulated TMOF to levels of 1.3% of total soluble protein. Infected tobacco leaf discs that were fed to Heliothis virescens fourth-instar larvae stunted their growth and inhibited trypsin and chymotrypsin activity in their midgut. Purified CP-TMOF virions fed to mosquito larvae stopped larval growth and caused death. Because TMV has a wide host range, expressing TMV-TMOF in plants can be used as a general method to protect them against agricultural insect pests and to control vector mosquitoes.
authors.affiliation: Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory, University of Florida-Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS), 200 Ninth Street Southeast, Vero Beach, FL 32962-4699, USA. dobo@mail.ifas.ufl.edu
authors.forename: Dov
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Borovsky
authors.forename: Shailaja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rabindran
authors.forename: William O
authors.initials: WO
authors.lastname: Dawson
authors.forename: Charles A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.forename: Donna A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Iannotti
authors.forename: Timothy J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: Jeffry
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shabanowitz
authors.forename: Donald F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.forename: Hendrik L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: DeBondt
authors.forename: Arnold
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: DeLoof
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development*; D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D036022:Capsid Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016679:Genome, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D007306:Insecticides / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007814:Larva / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology; D015202:Protein Engineering; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology; D014027:Tobacco Mosaic Virus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014357:Trypsin / Q000378:metabolism; D014771:Virion / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D036022:Capsid Proteins; C009496:H protein, Tobacco mosaic virus; D007306:Insecticides; D009842:Oligopeptides; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C065612:Peptide oostatic hormone; D014357:Trypsin