Aphid resistance in wheat varieties.

As an environmentally compatible alternative to the use of conventional insecticides to control cereal aphids, we have investigated the possibility to exploit natural resistance to insect pests in wheat varieties. We have tested a wide range of hexaploid (Triticum aestivum), tetraploid (T. durum) and diploid (T. boeoticum and T. monococcum) wheat lines for resistance to the bird cherry oat aphid (Rhopalosiphum padi). Lines tested included Russian wheat aphid (Diuraphis noxia), greenbug (Schizaphis graminum), hessian fly (Mayetiola destructor) and orange wheat blossom midge (Sitodiplosis mosellana) resistant varieties. Antixenosis and antibiosis were determined in the settling and fecundity tests respectively. Since hydroxamic acids (Hx), including the most generally active, 2,4-dihidroxy-7-methoxy-1,4-benzoxazin-3-one (DIMBOA), are biosynthesised in many cereal plants and are implicated in resistance against insects, leaf tissue was analysed for Hx and the glucosides from which they are produced. The hexaploid varieties, which contained relatively low levels of the DIMBOA glucoside, did not deter aphid feeding or reduce nymph production significantly. Reduced settlement and nymph production were recorded on the diploid varieties, but they contained no detectable level of the glucoside or the toxic aglucone.

Inhibition of Colorado potato beetle larvae by a locust proteinase inhibitor peptide expressed in potato.

The cDNA for a 73-mer peptide containing two locust serine proteinase inhibitors was cloned, fused to the constitutive CaMV35S promoter and introduced into potato by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. From 23 independent transgenic lines, three with high mRNA level and proteinase inhibitory activity were propagated in vitro and transferred to pots. The peptide from the leaves was identified by its N-terminal sequence and by K(i) values against chymotrypsin and trypsin. Colorado potato beetle larvae reared on transgenic plants grew slightly but significantly more slowly than those on control plants. This supports the notion that expression of multifunctional proteinase inhibitors of insect origin might be a good strategy to improve insect resistance in plants.