Cytotoxic and lethal effects of recombinant β-BUTX-Lqq1a peptide against Lepidopteran insects and cell lines

The mechanism underlying toxicity of a venom peptide against insects reveals how ants are master at disrupting membranes

“… 26 , 27 So far, the effects of several peptides from various venoms (from Hymenoptera, 10 , 11 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 26 , 27 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 spiders, 42 , 43 scorpions 44 …) have been evaluated on insects using in vivo assays. However, few studies have focused on insect cells 16 , 38 , 45 , 46 , 47 despite the relevance of this cellular model to elucidate the mode of action of cytotoxic peptides, to exploit the diversity of peptide libraries to discover new insecticides, or to extend the knowledge of the functions of venom peptides. U 9 and M-Tb1a have a cytotoxic effect on S2 cells as potent as that of the previously studied ant venom cytotoxic peptides.…”

Efficacy of genetically transformed Metarhizium anisopliae against Spodoptera litura and Aphis craccivora

“…Presence of LqqIT1 peptide sequence into M. anisopliae could greatly improve the fungal virulence toward its host insect. According to Murugan and Saini (2019) , rLqqIT1 is a sodium activated channel toxin, it causes quick paralysis and physiological dysfunctioning in S. litura and H. armigera larvae. Our study showed larval body liquification, pigmentation (dark brown to black) in fungal treated insects and this revealed that transformed clones may weaken host by halting the Voltage Gated Sodium Channel (VGSCs) of motor neurons.…”

“…The synthesized recombinant product when injected (to check biotoxicity), showed enhanced insecticidal activity against S. litura and Helicoverpa armigera (Hub.) larvae, respectively ( Murugan and Saini, 2019 ). The pathogenicity of the genetically modified four different fungal clones viz ., Ma-2(2) and Ma-2(7) stack with recombinant toxin gene ‘LqqIT1a’ and other clone MaGKS-13 and MaGKS-14 respectively, expressed with heterologous fusion protein containing snowdrop lectin, Galanthus nivalis agglutinin (Kunt.)…”

Bioefficacy of engineered Beauveria bassiana with scorpion neurotoxin, LqqIT1 against cotton mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis and cowpea aphid, Aphis craccivora

“…The reverse translated DNA sequence LqqIT1 was codon optimized for bacterial expression. Further, the codon optimized DNA sequence was synthesized and cloned in plasmid-pUC57 flanking Eco RI and Hin dIII restriction sites (Genscript, Piscataway, NJ, USA) ( Murugan & Saini, 2019 ).…”

“…According to Murugan & Saini (2019) , rLqqIT1 is a sodium activated channel toxin which leads to rapid paralysis and physiological impairment in Spodoptera litura (Fabricius) and Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner) larvae. By causing recurrent firing in the motor neurons, LqqIT1 causes acute spastic paralysis in the target species ( Eitan et al, 1990 ).…”