A new theraphosid spider toxin causes early insect cell death by necrosis when expressed in vitro during recombinant baculovirus infection.

ABSTRACT: Baculoviruses are the most studied insect viruses in the world and are used for biological control of agricultural and forest insect pests. They are also used as versatile vectors for expression of heterologous proteins. One of the major problems of their use as biopesticides is their slow speed to kill insects. Thus, to address this shortcoming, insect-specific neurotoxins from arachnids have been introduced into the baculovirus genome solely aiming to improve its virulence. In this work, an insecticide-like toxin gene was obtained from a cDNA derived from the venom glands of the theraphosid spider Brachypelma albiceps. The mature form of the peptide toxin (called Ba3) has a high content of basic amino acid residues, potential for three possible disulfide bonds, and a predicted three-stra

SUBMITTER: Ardisson-Araujo DM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3862797 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature