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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Deleterious effects of plant cystatins against the banana weevil Cosmopolites sordidus
Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology, Volume 73, No. 2, Year 2010
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Description
The general potential of plant cystatins for the development of insectresistant transgenic plants still remains to be established given the natural ability of several insects to compensate for the loss of digestive cysteine protease activities. Here we assessed the potential of cystatins for the development of banana lines resistant to the banana weevil Cosmopolites sordidus, a major pest of banana and plantain in Africa. Protease inhibitory assays were conducted with protein and methylcoumarin (MCA) peptide substrates to measure the inhibitory efficiency of different cystatins in vitro, followed by a diet assay with cystatin-infiltrated banana stem disks to monitor the impact of two plant cystatins, oryzacystatin I (OC-I, or OsCYS1) and papaya cystatin (CpCYS1), on the overall growth rate of weevil larvae. As observed earlier for other Coleoptera, banana weevils produce a variety of proteases for dietary protein digestion, including in particular Z-Phe-Arg-MCA-hydrolyzing (cathepsin L-like) and Z-Arg-Arg-MCA-hydrolyzing (cathepsin B-like) proteases active in mildly acidic conditions. Both enzyme populations were sensitive to the cysteine protease inhibitor E-64 and to different plant cystatins including OsCYS1. In line with the broad inhibitory effects of cystatins, OsCYS1 and CpCYS1 caused an important growth delay in young larvae developing for 10 days in cystatin-infiltrated banana stem disks. These promising results, which illustrate the susceptibility of C. sordidus to plant cystatins, are discussed in the light of recent hypotheses suggesting a key role for cathepsin B-like enzymes as a determinant for resistance or susceptibility to plant cystatins in Coleoptera. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Authors & Co-Authors
Kiggundu, Andrew
Uganda, Kampala
Kawanda Agricultural Research Institute
Muchwezi, Josephine
Uganda, Kampala
Kawanda Agricultural Research Institute
van der Vyver, Christell
South Africa, Stellenbosch
Stellenbosch University
Viljoen, Altus
South Africa, Stellenbosch
Stellenbosch University
Vorster, Barend J.
South Africa, Pretoria
University of Pretoria
Schlüter, Urte
South Africa, Pretoria
University of Pretoria
Kunert, Karl Josef
South Africa, Pretoria
University of Pretoria
Michaud, Dominique
Canada, Quebec
Université Laval
Statistics
Citations: 32
Authors: 8
Affiliations: 4
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1002/arch.20342
ISSN:
07394462
e-ISSN:
15206327