Improving insect control protein activity for GM crops: A case study demonstrating that increased target insect potency can be achieved without impacting mammalian safety

Bacterial Pesticidal Protein Mpp51Aa1 Delivered via Transgenic Citrus Severely Impacts the Fecundity of Asian Citrus Psyllid, Diaphorina citri

The Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) Diaphorina citri vectors the causative agent of citrus greening disease that has the capacity to decimate citrus production. As an alternative and more sustainable approach to manage D. citri than repeated application of chemical insecticides, we investigated the potential use of the bacteria-derived pesticidal protein, Mpp51Aa1, when delivered by transgenic Citrus sinensis cv. Valencia sweet orange or Citrus paradisi cv. Duncan grapefruit. Following confirmation of transcription and translation of mpp51aa1 by transgenic plants, no impact of Mpp51Aa1 expression was seen on D. citri host plant choice between transgenic and control Duncan grapefruit plants. A slight but significant drop in survival of adult psyllids fed on these transgenic plants was noted relative to those fed on control plants. In line with this result, damage to the gut epithelium consistent with that caused by pore-forming proteins was only observed in a minority of adult D. citri fed on the transgenic Duncan grapefruit. However, greater impacts were observed on nymphs than on adults, with a 40% drop in the survival of nymphs fed on transgenic Duncan grapefruit relative to those fed on control plants. For Valencia sweet orange, a 70% decrease in the number of eggs laid by adult D. citri on transgenic plants was noted relative to those on control plants, with a 90% drop in emergence of progeny. These impacts that contrast with those associated with other bacterial pesticidal proteins and the potential for use of Mpp51Aa1-expressing transgenic plants for suppression of D. citri populations are discussed. IMPORTANCE Pesticidal proteins derived from bacteria such as Bacillus thuringiensis are valuable tools for management of agricultural insect pests and provide a sustainable alternative to the application of chemical insecticides. However, relatively few bacterial pesticidal proteins have been used for suppression of hemipteran or sap-sucking insects such as the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri. This insect is particularly important as the vector of the causative agent of citrus greening, or huanglongbing disease, which severely impacts global citrus production. In this study, we investigated the potential of transgenic citrus plants that produce the pesticidal protein Mpp51Aa1. While adult psyllid mortality on transgenic plants was modest, the reduced number of eggs laid by exposed adults and the decreased survival of progeny was such that psyllid populations dropped by more than 90%. These results provide valuable insight for potential deployment of Mpp51Aa1 in combination with other control agents for the management of D. citri.

Safety assessment of Mpp75Aa1.1, a new ETX_MTX2 protein from Brevibacillus laterosporus that controls western corn rootworm

The recently discovered insecticidal protein Mpp75Aa1.1 from Brevibacillus laterosporus is a member of the ETX_MTX family of beta-pore forming proteins (β-PFPs) expressed in genetically modified (GM) maize to control western corn rootworm (WCR; Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte). In this manuscript, bioinformatic analysis establishes that although Mpp75Aa1.1 shares varying degrees of similarity to members of the ETX_MTX2 protein family, it is unlikely to have any allergenic, toxic, or otherwise adverse biological effects. The safety of Mpp75Aa1.1 is further supported by a weight of evidence approach including evaluation of the history of safe use (HOSU) of ETX_MTX2 proteins and Breviballus laterosporus. Comparisons between purified Mpp75Aa1.1 protein and a poly-histidine-tagged (His-tagged) variant of the Mpp75Aa1.1 protein demonstrate that both forms of the protein are heat labile at temperatures at or above 55°C, degraded by gastrointestinal proteases within 0.5 min, and have no adverse effects in acute mouse oral toxicity studies at a dose level of 1920 or 2120 mg/kg body weight. These results support the use of His-tagged proteins as suitable surrogates for assessing the safety of their non-tagged parent proteins. Taken together, we report that Mpp75Aa1.1 is the first ETX-MTX2 insecticidal protein from B. laterosporus and displays a similar safety profile as typical Cry proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis.

Peptide mediated, enhanced toxicity of a bacterial pesticidal protein against southern green stink bug

The damage caused by stink bugs that feed on agricultural crops accounts for such significant losses that transgenic plant resistance to stink bugs would be highly desirable. As the level of toxicity of the Bacillus thuringiensis‐derived, ETX/Mtx2 pesticidal protein Mpp83Aa1 is insufficient for practical use against the southern green stink bug Nezara viridula, we employed two disparate approaches to isolate peptides NvBP1 and ABP5 that bind to specific proteins (alpha amylase and aminopeptidase N respectively) on the surface of the N. viridula gut. Incorporation of these peptides into Mpp83Aa1 provided artificial anchors resulting in increased gut binding, and enhanced toxicity. These peptide‐modified pesticidal proteins with increased toxicity provide a key advance for potential future use against N. viridula when delivered by transgenic plants to mitigate economic loss associated with this important pest.

Challenges of automation and scale: Bioinformatics and the evaluation of proteins to support genetically modified product safety assessments

Bioinformatic analyses of protein sequences play an important role in the discovery and subsequent safety assessment of insect control proteins in Genetically Modified (GM) crops. Due to the rapid adoption of high-throughput sequencing methods over the last decade, the number of protein sequences in GenBank and other public databases has increased dramatically. Many of these protein sequences are the product of whole genome sequencing efforts, coupled with automated protein sequence prediction and annotation pipelines. Published genome sequencing studies provide a rich and expanding foundation of new source organisms and proteins for insect control or other desirable traits in GM products. However, data generated by automated pipelines can also confound regulatory safety assessments that employ bioinformatics. Largely this issue does not arise due to underlying sequence, but rather its annotation or associated metadata, and the downstream integration of that data into existing repositories. Observations made during bioinformatic safety assessments are described.