Insecticidal activity and lectin homology of arcelin seed protein.
Arcelin, a major seed protein discovered in wild beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), has toxic effects on an important bean bruchid pest, Zabrotes subfasciatus. Transfer of the arcelin-1 allele to bean cultivars and addition of purified arcelin to artificial seeds results in high levels of insect resistance. The nucleotide and derived amino acid sequences of the arcelin-1 complementary DNA are very similar to those of genes encoding the bean seed lectin, phytohemagglutinin. The gene or genes encoding arcelin may have evolved from a phytohemagglutinin gene or genes resulting in an effective mechanism for resistance to bean bruchids.
Osborni
T C
TC
Alexander
D C
DC
Sun
S S
SS
Cardona
C
C
Bliss
F A
FA