Journal
BMC BIOLOGY
Volume 20, Issue 1, Pages -Publisher
BMC
DOI: 10.1186/s12915-022-01281-8
Keywords
Functional characterization; Fatty acyl desaturases; Fatty acyl reductase; Alcohol oxidation; Acetyltransferase; Heterologous expression systems; Pheromone-releasing plants
Categories
Funding
- Lund University
- Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research [RBP 14-0037]
- European Union [760798]
- Formas [2010-857, 2015-1336]
- Carl Trygger Foundation for Scientific Research [CTS 14:307, CTS KF17:15]
- Jorgen Lindstrom's Scholarship Fund
- Royal Physiographic Society in Lund
- Chinese Scholarship Council
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In this study, we characterized essential functional genes for sex pheromone biosynthesis in the rice stem borer and successfully released these pheromones from genetically modified plants. This research provides a method and theoretical basis for using plants as biological pheromone sources in pest control strategies.
Background Using genetically modified plants as natural dispensers of insect pheromones may eventually become part of a novel strategy for integrated pest management. Results In the present study, we first characterized essential functional genes for sex pheromone biosynthesis in the rice stem borer Chilo suppressalis (Walker) by heterologous expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Nicotiana benthamiana, including two desaturase genes CsupYPAQ and CsupKPSE and a reductase gene CsupFAR2. Subsequently, we co-expressed CsupYPAQ and CsupFAR2 together with the previously characterized moth desaturase Atr increment 11 in N. benthamiana. This resulted in the production of (Z)-11-hexadecenol together with (Z)-11-hexadecenal, the major pheromone component of C. suppressalis. Both compounds were collected from the transformed N. benthamiana headspace volatiles using solid-phase microextraction. We finally added the expression of a yeast acetyltransferase gene ATF1 and could then confirm also (Z)-11-hexadecenyl acetate release from the plant. Conclusions Our results pave the way for stable transformation of plants to be used as biological pheromone sources in different pest control strategies.
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