engleski

Understanding critical aspects of aphid survival and developing strategies for their control

Aphids are severe agricultural pests with remarkable reproductive potential. They cause damage to numerous crops by feeding on the phloem sap and vectoring plant viruses. The rapid occurrence of insecticide resistance among aphids calls for alternative and sustainable control measures. Aphids rely on bacterial symbionts, which supplement their unbalanced diet with essential amino acids, provide better adaptation to environmental challenges and resistance to parasites. The evolution of aphids has been accompanied by the loss of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) that are prevalent in other insects, probably because any harm to their bacterial symbionts would inevitably affect the aphids themselves. This evolutionary theory could lead to engineering of aphid-resistant crops by expressing AMP transgenes that target aphid and their bacterial symbionts. In this study, we fed the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum with AMPs which were discovered in the venom glands of scorpions. These scorpion-derived AMPs reduced aphid survival, delayed their reproduction, displayed in vitro activity against aphid bacterial symbiont, and eliminated their symbionts in vivo. Remarkably, we found that some of the scorpion AMPs compromised the aphid bacteriosome, an organ harboring bacterial symbionts. Our data suggest that scorpion AMPs are promising candidates for the engineering of aphid-resistant crops.

Acyrthosiphon pisum ; scorpion toxins ; symbiosis ; antimicrobial peptides

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