Chemistry: molecular biology and microbiology – Treatment of micro-organisms or enzymes with electrical or... – Modification of viruses
Patent
1994-04-21
1997-02-18
Veitenheimer, Erich E.
Chemistry: molecular biology and microbiology
Treatment of micro-organisms or enzymes with electrical or...
Modification of viruses
424405, 424418, 536 236, 536 241, 800205, 935 35, 935 67, C12N 1509, C12N 1529, A01H 100, A01H 500, C07H 2104
Patent
active
056041217
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to the use of proteins to control sap-sucking insects belonging to the Order Homoptera which are harmful to plants, and methods for using them to introduce enhanced resistance to Homopteran pests into plants.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The order Homoptera, often regarded as a separate suborder of the order Hemiptera, includes those insects known as plant bugs. These insects have piercing and sucking mouth-parts and feed upon sap. They include the aphids [family Aphididae], white flies [Aleyrodidae], planthoppers [Delphacidae], leafhoppers [Cicadellidae], jumping plant lice [Psyllidae] woolly aphids [Pemphigidae], mealy bugs [Pseudococcidae], and scales [Coccidae, Diaspididae, Asterolecaniidae and Margarodidae]. Many species are serious pests of agricultural and horticultural crops and of ornamental plants, including, for example, pea aphid, black bean aphid, cotton aphid, green apple aphid, glasshouse-potato aphid, leaf-curling plum aphid, banana aphid, cabbage aphid, turnip aphid, peach-potato aphid, corn leaf aphid, wheat aphid, brassica whitefly, tobacco whitefly, glasshouse whitefly, citrus blackfly, small brown planthopper, rice brown planthopper, sugarcane planthopper, white-backed planthopper, green rice leafhopper, beet leafhopper, cotton jassid, zig-zag winged rice leafhopper, apple sucker, pear sucker, woolly apple aphid, lettuce root woolly aphid, grape phylloxera, long-tailed mealybug, pineapple mealybug, striped mealybug, pink sugarcane mealybug, cottony cushion scale, olive scale, mussel scale, San Jose scale, California red scale, Florida red scale and coconut scale.
Crop damage as a result of feeding by these insects occurs in a number of ways. Extraction of sap deprives the plant of nutrients and water leading to loss of vigour and wilting. Phytotoxic substances present in the saliva of some species, and mechanical blockage of the phloem by feeding may result in distortion and necrosis of foliage [as in `hopper-burn`] and in blindness or shrunken kernels in grain crops. Injury, caused by insertion of the mouthparts leaves lesions through which plant pathogens may enter. Production of copious `honeydew` may allow sooty moulds to develop or its stickiness may interfere with the harvesting of cereals and cotton. Some of the most serious damage caused by these pests is indirect, due to their role as vectors of plant viruses. Examples of serious virus diseases spread by Homopterans include maize streak, beet curly-top, northern cereal mosaic, oat rosette, pear decline, tobacco mosaic, cauliflower mosaic, turnip mosaic, rice orange leaf, rice dwarf, rice yellow dwarf, rice transitory yellowing, rice grassy stunt, sugarcane Fiji disease, cassava mosaic, cotton leaf-curl, tobacco leaf-curl, sweet potato virus B, groundnut rosette, banana bunchy top, citrus tristeza, pineapple mealybug wilt and cocoa swollen shoot. Reduction in the Homopteran insect populations would be useful in limiting the spread of these and other viral diseases in crops. This invention addresses the problem of control of these sucking insect pests.
Since the late 1940s, methods to control these pests have centred on the exogenous application of synthetic organochemicals. Because of their feeding habits, effective insecticides must act on contact or be systemic within the plant. Insecticides of the chlorinated hydrocarbon, substituted phenol, organophosphate, carbamate and pyrethrin classes have been used, but this method of plant protection is encountering increasing problems known to those versed in the art. The problem of the development of pest insect resistance to pesticides is particularly acute amongst Homopterans, where the typically short generation time allows the emergence of resistant biotypes very rapidly. For example, the brown planthopper of rice can apparently develop a new biotype in only about 18 months.
Biological control of pest insects has been favoured as an alternative strategy. Such an approach exploits the natural viral, bacterial or fungal pathogens or the natural invertebrat
REFERENCES:
"Lipoxygenase (EC 1.13.11.12), Trypsin Inhibitor and Lectin from Soybeans: Effects on Larval Growth of Manduca Sexta (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae)" by R. H. Shukle et al, Biological Abstracts, vol. 76, 1983, abstract No. 80702. & Environ. Entomol. vol. 12, No. 3, 1983, pp. 787-791.
"Secondary Plant Metabolites as Targets for Genetic Modification of Crop Plants for Pest Resistance", by G. W. Dawson et al., Pesticide Science, vol. 27, 1989, pp. 191-201.
"Gus Fusions: Beta-Glucuronidase s a Sensitive and Versitile Gene Fusion Marker in higher Plants", by R. A. Jefferson et al, EMBO Journal, vol. 6, No. 13, 1987, pp. 3901-3907.
"Histochemical Analysis of CaMV 35S Promoter-Beta-Glucuronidase Gene Expression in Transgenic Rice Plants", by M. J. Battraw et al, Plant Molecular Biology, vol. 15, 1990, pp. 527-538.
"Plant Lipid Peroxidation Manipulation and Effects on Aphid Resistance", by W. Deng et al, Plant Physiology, vol. 99, No. 1, May 1992, p. 109.
Yang et al. 1990, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 87:4144-4148.
Boulter Donald
Gatehouse Angharad M. R.
Hilder Vaughan A.
Powell Kevin
Agricultural Genetics Company Limited
Veitenheimer Erich E.
LandOfFree
Proteins with insecticidal properties against homopteran insects does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Proteins with insecticidal properties against homopteran insects, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Proteins with insecticidal properties against homopteran insects will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-1601975