Modified Cry Proteins for Lepidopteran Pest Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for controlling plant pests, including chemical pesticides and biological agents like Bacillus thuringiensis, often have limited spectrum of activity and can lead to resistance development in insect pests, necessitating the development of new pest control agents that can effectively target a variety of economically important insect species and prevent resistance.
Innovation Solution
Development of new Bacillus thuringiensis isolates and novel genes encoding Cry proteins with modified amino acid sequences to enhance their pesticidal activity, including optimized codons for expression in transgenic organisms, which can be used to create chimeric genes and recombinant vectors for expression in plants and bacteria, providing broad-spectrum insect control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If chemical pesticides are used to control insect pests, then insect mortality increases, but non-target beneficial insects are affected and resistance develops
Solution Approach 1:
The Cry proteins are engineered with specific amino acid substitutions that localize their toxic activity to particular insect species or groups. For example, modifications in the receptor-binding domains confer specificity to certain lepidopteran or dipteran pests while leaving beneficial insects unaffected, thereby resolving the contradiction between control effectiveness and non-target impact
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs amino acid substitutions, deletions, and additions to alter the biochemical parameters of Cry proteins. These parameter changes modify the proteins' binding affinity to insect gut receptors, enabling selective toxicity against target pests while reducing harm to non-target species, thus addressing both control effectiveness and environmental safety
2Object-affected harmful factors
If biological control agents like Bacillus thuringiensis are used, then environmental acceptability increases, but spectrum of activity is narrow and resistance develops
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates Cry protein variants that can target multiple insect orders (lepidoptera, diptera, coleoptera) through engineered modifications. By incorporating amino acid changes that broaden receptor compatibility across different insect groups, a single protein variant achieves multi-functional pest control, thereby increasing versatility while maintaining environmental acceptability
Solution Approach 2:
The invention combines elements from different Cry protein families (e.g., Cry1, Cry2, Cry3) into chimeric constructs with composite amino acid sequences. These composite proteins integrate functional domains from parent proteins to achieve broad-spectrum activity against diverse pest species while retaining the environmental safety characteristics of Bt-derived proteins
3Reliability
If existing Cry proteins are used repeatedly, then control of target pests is achieved, but insect resistance develops
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary anti-action by engineering Cry proteins with amino acid modifications that pre-empt resistance development. The modified proteins possess altered binding characteristics that reduce cross-reactivity with resistance-conferring mutations in pest populations, thereby extending the duration of effective control before resistance emerges
Solution Approach 2:
The invention performs preliminary action by introducing amino acid substitutions that proactively address potential resistance mechanisms. These modifications are designed based on knowledge of resistance development patterns, preparing the Cry proteins to maintain effectiveness against pests that may have developed resistance to wild-type proteins
Data Source
AI summary
Novel insecticidal proteins that are toxic to lepidopteran pests are disclosed. The polynucleotides encoding the insecticidal proteins can be used to transform prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms to express the insecticidal proteins. The recombinant organisms or compositions containing the recombinant organisms or the insecticidal proteins alone or in combination with other pest control agents and an appropriate agricultural carrier can be used to control lepidopteran pests in various environments.