Title
Effects of hydroxycinnamic acid esters on sweetpotato weevil feeding and oviposition and interactions with Bacillus thuringiensis proteins
Date Issued
01 June 2021
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Publisher(s)
Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Abstract
Sweetpotato weevil (SPW) pest management is challenging because the pest target is sub-terranean, so the application of pesticides is impractical and usually ineffective. Host plant resistance and the genetic transformation of sweetpotatoes to produce entomotoxic Bt proteins offer potential for environmentally benign pest control. Resistance can be conferred by naturally occurring hydroxycinnamic acids which protect against oviposition by adults, but these compounds are restricted to the root surface so do not protect against the cortex bound larvae where the greatest damage occurs. Resistance could be enhanced if combined with expression of Bt proteins in transformed plants, but interactions between hydroxycinnamic acids and Bt proteins remain unknown. Here the bioactivity of Cry7Aa1 protein and hydroxycinnamic acid esters was evaluated individually and in combination against SPW larvae and mortality determined. Low and high concentrations of hydroxycinnamic acid esters alone caused significantly higher mortality of both weevil species in all experiments compared to the control. SPW larval mortality was greater when tested as a combination of hydroxycinnamic acid esters and Bt protein, but this effect was additive not synergistic. Although we report no evidence of antagonistic interactions, the antifeedant effects of the plant compounds conferring host plant resistance could have reduced consumption of the Bt protein in our assays leading to a lower efficacy when combined. Further work is required to determine whether the toxic effects of Bt proteins function alongside host plant resistance in sweetpotato under field conditions.
Start page
783
End page
794
Volume
94
Issue
3
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Ciencias de las plantas, Botánica
Bioquímica, Biología molecular
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85096060872
Source
Journal of Pest Science
ISSN of the container
16124758
Sponsor(s)
Funding text 1
The authors thank Professor W.J. Moar, Auburn University, USA (now at Monsanto, Missouri), for providing Bt protein Cry7Aa1 and Professor David Hall (Natural Resources Institute (NRI) for providing hexadecylcaffeic acid and hexadecyl and octadecylcoumaric acid used in the study.
Funding text 2.
This study was funded by McKnight Foundation Collaborative Crop Research Project no. 08–019 on sweetpotato breeding to ROM and PCS. Acknowledgement
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus