title: Fungal ribotoxins: Natural protein-based weapons against insects.
abstract: Ribotoxins are fungal extracellular ribonucleases highly toxic due to their ability to enter host cells and their effective ribonucleolytic activity against the ribosome. The natural role of these proteins in the producing fungi is still unsolved. Nevertheless, recent studies showing the insecticidal properties of two ribotoxins from different origin support their involvement in defense mechanisms. Thus, it seems that not just the entomopathogen Hirsutella thompsonii expresses the ribotoxin hirsutellin A as a virulence factor but also Aspergillus, the main ribotoxin producer, does so. In this review we focus on this little known aspect of this family of proteins, their toxicity against insects, from the point of view of its biological relevance and its potential biotechnological applications.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular I, Facultad de Química, Universidad Complutense, Avda. Complutense, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Olombrada
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular I, Facultad de Química, Universidad Complutense, Avda. Complutense, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martínez-del-Pozo
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Protección de Cultivos, E.T.S.I. Agrónomos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Medina
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Protección de Cultivos, E.T.S.I. Agrónomos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Flor
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Budia
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular I, Facultad de Química, Universidad Complutense, Avda. Complutense, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: José G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Gavilanes
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular I, Facultad de Química, Universidad Complutense, Avda. Complutense, 28040 Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: lucia@bbm1.ucm.es.
authors.forename: Lucía
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: García-Ortega
mesh_terms: D056810:Acaricides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D003603:Cytotoxins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology; D006999:Hypocreales / Q000737:chemistry*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010572:Pest Control, Biological; D012260:Ribonucleases; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D056810:Acaricides; D003603:Cytotoxins; D005656:Fungal Proteins; C121692:Hirsutellin A protein, Hirsutella thompsonii; D012260:Ribonucleases
keywords: Entomopathogen; Hirsutellin A; Insecticide; Ribotoxins; α-Sarcin