Bacillus thuringiensis Gene for Lepidopteran Pest Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for controlling insect pests in agriculture rely heavily on chemical pesticides, which pose environmental hazards and have limited effectiveness against a broad range of insect pests, necessitating the development of alternative biopesticides with broader insecticidal activity.
Innovation Solution
The use of nucleic acids encoding insecticidal peptides from novel Bacillus thuringiensis genes to produce transformed microorganisms and plants that express pesticidal polypeptides, providing enhanced insect resistance against a variety of insect pests, including those from the order Lepidoptera.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If chemical insecticides are used to control insect pests, then pest control effectiveness is improved, but environmental hazards increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the harmful effects of traditional chemical insecticides by using Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria and their crystal proteins as alternative pest control agents. These biological agents provide effective pest control while being environmentally benign, breaking down naturally in the environment without the harmful effects of synthetic chemicals.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies the chemical composition parameters by replacing synthetic insecticide chemicals with biological agents (Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria and their encoded crystal proteins). This parameter change transforms the control mechanism from chemical to biological, maintaining effectiveness while eliminating environmental hazards.
2Reliability
If existing Bacillus thuringiensis genes are used to produce pesticidal proteins, then insect resistance is improved, but the range of effective insect pests is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates multi-functional pesticidal proteins by combining crystal proteins from different Bacillus thuringiensis strains (e.g., Cry1Ac, Cry2Ab, Cry3A, Cry4B) into a single expression construct. This allows the produced protein to effectively target multiple insect pest types including Lepidoptera, Diptera, and Coleoptera, providing universal pest control capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the coding sequences for multiple different crystal proteins into a single expression cassette that can be introduced into host plants. This combining approach allows the plant to produce a mixture of pesticidal proteins that work against a broader spectrum of insects, overcoming the limitation of single-gene systems.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention provides nucleic acids, and variants and fragments thereof, obtained from strains of Bacillus thuringiensis encoding polypeptides having pesticidal activity against insect pests, including Lepidoptera. Particular embodiments of the invention provide isolated nucleic acids encoding pesticidal proteins, pesticidal compositions, DNA constructs, and transformed microorganisms and plants comprising a nucleic acid of the embodiments. These compositions find use in methods for controlling pests, especially plant pests.