The IGBB is a member of the NIH-funded Mississippi IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (Mississippi INBRE or MS-INBRE), a program designed to build biomedical infrastructure throughout the state. Through MS-INBRE, Mississippi students and faculty at Mississippi's undergraduate institutions are (1) trained in biomedical research techniques, (2) given the opportunity to work with top researchers at Mississippi's major research universities, (3) afforded access to state-of-the-art bioscience equipment, and (4) provided with assistance in preparing grant proposals. The IGBB serves as the MS-INBRE proteomics/computational biology core. For more information about MS-INBRE, click here.

Dr. Mohit VermaPostdoctoral Associate
BIOCOMPUTING
emailPace 101

Insect feeding mobilizes a unique plant defense protease that disrupts the peritrophic matrix of caterpillars
IGBB Authors:
Tibor PechanPUBLICATION YEAR:
2002IMPACT FACTOR:
10.962CITATION COUNT:
210Pechan T, Cohen A, Williams WP, Luthe DS (2002) Insect feeding mobilizes a unique plant defense protease that disrupts the peritrophic matrix of caterpillars.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 99(20): 13319-13323.
DOI:
10.1073/pnas.202224899EID:
2-s2.0-0036790854PMID: 12235370
DOWNLOAD PDFABSTRACTPlants frequently respond to herbivorous insect attack by synthesizing defense proteins that deter insect feeding and prevent additional herbivory. Maize (Zea mays L.) lines, resistant to feeding by a number of lepidopteran species, rapidly mobilize a unique 33-kDa cysteine protease in response to caterpillar feeding. The accumulation of the 33-kDa cysteine protease in the maize mid-whorl was correlated with a significant reduction in caterpillar growth that resulted from impaired nutrient utilization. Black Mexican Sweetcorn callus transformed with mir1, the gene encoding the 33-kDa cysteine protease, expressed the protease and growth of caterpillars reared on the transgenic callus was reduced 60-80%. Scanning electron microscopy was used to examine the effect of plant material expressing the 33-kDa cysteine protease on the structure of the caterpillar peritrophic matrix. Because the peritrophic matrix surrounds the food bolus, assists in digestive processes, and protects the caterpillar midgut from physical and chemical damage, disruption of peritrophic matrix may reduce caterpillar growth. The results indicated that the peritrophic matrix was severely damaged when caterpillars fed on resistant maize plants or transgenic Black Mexican Sweetcorn. The accumulation of the 33-kDa cysteine protease in response to caterpillar feeding, and its ability to damage the insect peritrophic matrix, represents an unusual host-plant resistance mechanism that may have applications in agricultural biotechnology.
The IGBB is supported, in part, by the following units:
The IGBB is an HPC² member center.