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The expression in tobacco plants of Aedes aegypti Trypsin Modulating Oostatic Factor (Aea-TMOF) alters growth and development of the tobacco budworm, Heliothis virescens

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Abstract

The production and characterisation of transgenic tobacco plantsexpressing a precursor of a regulatory peptide from Aedesaegypti (Trypsin Modulating and Oostatic Factor, Aea-TMOF) whichinterferes with the development of tobacco budworm larvae is described. Tobaccoplants were transformed with a synthetic gene containing 6 TMOF units spaced bydibasic residues, Arg-Arg, as potential post-translational cleavage sites.Peptide extracts from transgenic plants had TMOF activity and inhibitedin vitro the biosynthesis of serine proteases. Thisactivity was consistently present in T1 plants and absent in control plants.Tobacco budworm larvae, fed with transgenic leaves showed a reduced growth ratecompared to those fed with control plants. The low rather than acute toxicityofthis low impact gene is discussed in the context of alternative integrated pestmanagement strategies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Institute for Vegetable and Ornamental Plant Breeding (CNR), Portici, Italy

    C. Tortiglione

  2. Department of Biology, Università della Basilicata, Potenza, Italy

    P. Fanti & F. Pennacchio

  3. International Institute of Genetics and Biophysic, CNR, Napoli, Italy

    C. Malva

  4. Zoological Institute of the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium

    M. Breuer & A. De Loof

  5. Department of Plant, Soil and Environmental Sciences, Università di Napoli, Portici, Italy

    L.M. Monti & R. Rao

  6. Department of Entomology, Università di Napoli, Portici, Italy

    E. Tremblay

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  1. C. Tortiglione
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  2. P. Fanti
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  3. F. Pennacchio
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  4. C. Malva
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  5. M. Breuer
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  6. A. De Loof
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  7. L.M. Monti
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  8. E. Tremblay
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  9. R. Rao
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Correspondence to R. Rao.

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Tortiglione, C., Fanti, P., Pennacchio, F. et al. The expression in tobacco plants of Aedes aegypti Trypsin Modulating Oostatic Factor (Aea-TMOF) alters growth and development of the tobacco budworm, Heliothis virescens . Molecular Breeding 9, 159–169 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1019785914424

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