When defense backfires: Detrimental effect of a plant’s protective trichomes on an insect beneficial to the plant

The plant Mentzelia pumila (family Loasaceae) has leaves and stems densely covered with tiny hooked trichomes. The structures entrap and kill insects and therefore are most probably protective. But they are also maladaptive in that they incapacitate a coccinellid beetle (Hippodamia convergens) that preys upon an aphid enemy (Macrosiphum mentzeliae) of the plant. The adaptive benefit provided by the trichomes is evidently offset by a cost.

Pro-phenol oxidase activating proteinase from an insect, Manduca sexta: A bacteria-inducible protein similar to Drosophila easter

Activation of pro-phenol oxidase (proPO) in insects and crustaceans is important in defense against wounding and infection. The proPO zymogen is activated by a specific proteolytic cleavage. PO oxidizes phenolic compounds to produce quinones, which may help to kill pathogens and can also be used for synthesis of melanin to seal wounds and encapsulate parasites. We have isolated from the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta, a serine proteinase that activates proPO, and have cloned its cDNA. The isolated proPO activating proteinase (PAP) hydrolyzed artificial substrates but required other protein factors for proPO activation, suggesting that proPO-activating enzyme may exist as a protein complex, one component of which is PAP. PAP (44 kDa) is composed of two disulfide-linked polypeptide chains (31 kDa and 13 kDa). A cDNA for PAP was isolated from a hemocyte library, by using a PCR-generated probe based on the amino-terminal amino acid sequence of the 31-kDa catalytic domain. PAP belongs to a family of arthropod serine proteinases containing a carboxyl-terminal proteinase domain and an amino-terminal “clip” domain. The member of this family most similar in sequence to PAP is the product of the easter gene from Drosophila melanogaster. PAP mRNA was present at a low level in larval hemocytes and fat body, but became much more abundant in fat body after insects were injected with Escherichia coli. Sequence data and 3H-diisopropyl fluorphosphate labeling results suggest that the same PAP exists in hemolymph and cuticle.

Antibody-mediated inhibition of the growth of larvae from an insect causing cutaneous myiasis in a mammalian host

Many insects feed on blood or tissue from mammalian hosts. One potential strategy for the control of these insects is to vaccinate the host with antigens derived from the insect. The larvae of the fly Lucilia cuprina feed on ovine tissue and tissue fluids causing a cutaneous myiasis associated with considerable host morbidity and mortality. A candidate vaccine antigen, peritrophin 95, was purified from the peritrophic membrane, which lines the gut of these larvae. Serum from sheep vaccinated with peritrophin 95 inhibited growth of first-instar L. cuprina larvae that fed on this serum. Growth inhibition was probably caused by antibody-mediated blockage of the normally semipermeable peritrophic membrane and the subsequent development of an impervious layer of undefined composition on the gut lumen side of the peritrophic membrane that restricted access of nutrients to the larvae. The amino acid sequence of peritrophin 95 was determined by cloning the DNA complementary to its mRNA. The deduced amino acid sequence codes for a secreted protein containing a distinct Cys-rich domain of 317 amino acids followed by a mucin-like domain of 139 amino acids. The Cys-rich domain may be involved in binding chitin. This report describes a novel immunological strategy for the potential control of L. cuprina larvae that may have general application to the control of other insect pests.

Estimating the relative roles of top-down and bottom-up forces on insect herbivore populations: A classic study revisited

Although most ecologists agree that both top-down and bottom-up forces (predation and resource limitation, respectively) act in concert to influence populations of herbivores, it has proven difficult to estimate the relative contributions of such forces in terrestrial systems. Using a combination of time–series analysis of population counts recorded over 16 years and experimental data, we present the first estimates of the relative roles of top-down and bottom-up forces on the population dynamics of two terrestrial insect herbivores on the English oak (Quercus robur). Data suggest that temporal variation in winter moth, Operophtera brumata, density is dominated by time-lagged effects of pupal predators. By comparison, spatial variation in O. brumata density is dominated by host–plant quality. Overall, top-down forces explain 34.2% of population variance, bottom-up forces explain 17.2% of population variance, and 48.6% remains unexplained. In contrast, populations of the green oak tortrix, Tortrix viridana, appear dominated by bottom-up forces. Resource limitation, expressed as intraspecific competition among larvae for oak leaves, explains 29.4% of population variance. Host quality effects explain an additional 5.7% of population variance. We detected no major top-down effects on T. viridana populations. An unknown factor causing a linear decline in T. viridana populations over the 16-year study period accounts for most of the remaining unexplained variance. We discuss the observed differences between the insect species and the utility of time–series analysis as a tool in assessing the relative importance of top-down and bottom-up forces on herbivore populations.

Rhodopsin kinase: Expression in baculovirus-infected insect cells, and characterization of post-translational modifications*

Structure–function studies of rhodopsin kinase (RK; EC 2.7.1.125) require a variety of mutants. Therefore, there is need for a suitable system for the expression of RK mutant genes. Here we report on a study of expression of the RK gene in baculovirus-infected Sf21 cells and characterization of the enzyme produced as purified to near homogeneity. Particular attention has been paid to the post-translational modifications, autophosphorylation and isoprenylation, found in the native bovine RK. The protein produced has been purified using, successively, heparin-Sepharose, Mono Q, and Mono S FPLC (fast protein liquid chromatography) and was obtained in amounts of about 2 mg from 1 liter of cell culture. The enzyme from the last step of purification was obtained in two main fractions that differ in the level of phosphorylation. The protein peak eluted first carries two phosphate groups per protein, whereas the second protein peak is monophosphorylated. Further, while both peaks are isoprenylated, the isoprenyl groups consist of mixtures of C5, C10, C15, and C20 isoprenyl moieties. From these results, we conclude that the above expression system is suitable for some but not all aspects of structure–function studies.

Midgut-specific immune molecules are produced by the blood-sucking insect Stomoxys calcitrans

We have cloned and sequenced two defensins, Smd1 and Smd2, from anterior midgut tissue of the blood-sucking fly Stomoxys calcitrans. The DNA and N-terminal protein sequences suggest both are produced as prepropeptides. Smd1 differs from the classic defensin pattern in having an unusual six-amino acid-long N-terminal sequence. Both Smd1 and Smd2 have lower pI points and charge than insect defensins derived from fat body/hemocytes. Northern analysis shows both of these defensin molecules are tissue specific; both are produced by the anterior midgut tissue and, unlike the other insect defensins reported to date, neither appears to be expressed in fat body or hemocytes. Northern analysis also shows that mRNAs for both defensins are constitutively produced in the anterior midgut tissues and that these transcripts are up-regulated in response to sterile as well as a lipopolysaccharide-containing blood meal. However, anti-Gram-negative biological activity in the midgut is substantially enhanced by lipopolysaccharide. These findings suggest that the insect midgut has its own tissue-specific immune mechanisms and that this invertebrate epithelium is, like several vertebrate epithelia, protected by specific antibacterial peptides.

A cytochrome P450 terpenoid hydroxylase linked to the suppression of insect juvenile hormone synthesis

A cDNA encoding a cytochrome P450 enzyme was isolated from a cDNA library of the corpora allata (CA) from reproductively active Diploptera punctata cockroaches. This P450 from the endocrine glands that produce the insect juvenile hormone (JH) is most closely related to P450 proteins of family 4 and was named CYP4C7. The CYP4C7 gene is expressed selectively in the CA; its message could not be detected in the fat body, corpora cardiaca, or brain, but trace levels of expression were found in the midgut and caeca. The levels of CYP4C7 mRNA in the CA, measured by ribonuclease protection assays, were linked to the activity cycle of the glands. In adult females, CYP4C7 expression increased immediately after the peak of JH synthesis, reaching a maximum on day 7, just before oviposition. mRNA levels then declined after oviposition and during pregnancy. The CYP4C7 protein was produced in Escherichia coli as a C-terminal His-tagged recombinant protein. In a reconstituted system with insect NADPH cytochrome P450 reductase, cytochrome b5, and NADPH, the purified CYP4C7 metabolized (2E,6E)-farnesol to a more polar product that was identified by GC-MS and by NMR as (10E)-12-hydroxyfarnesol. CYP4C7 converted JH III to 12-trans-hydroxy JH III and metabolized other JH-like sesquiterpenoids as well. This ω-hydroxylation of sesquiterpenoids appears to be a metabolic pathway in the corpora allata that may play a role in the suppression of JH biosynthesis at the end of the gonotrophic cycle.

Reconstitution of human replication factor C from its five subunits in baculovirus-infected insect cells

Human replication factor C (RFC, also called activator 1) is a five-subunit protein complex (p140, p40, p38, p37, and p36) required for proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)-dependent processive DNA synthesis catalyzed by DNA polymerase δ or ɛ. Here we report the reconstitution of the RFC complex from its five subunits simultaneously overexpressed in baculovirus-infected insect cells. The purified baculovirus-produced RFC appears to contain equimolar levels of each subunit and was shown to be functionally identical to its native counterpart in (i) supporting DNA polymerase δ-catalyzed PCNA-dependent DNA chain elongation; (ii) catalyzing DNA-dependent ATP hydrolysis that was stimulated by PCNA and human single-stranded DNA binding protein; (iii) binding preferentially to DNA primer ends; and (iv) catalytically loading PCNA onto singly nicked circular DNA and catalytically removing PCNA from these DNA molecules.

Jasmonate is essential for insect defense in Arabidopsis

The signaling pathways that allow plants to mount defenses against chewing insects are known to be complex. To investigate the role of jasmonate in wound signaling in Arabidopsis and to test whether parallel or redundant pathways exist for insect defense, we have studied a mutant (fad3–2 fad7–2 fad8) that is deficient in the jasmonate precursor linolenic acid. Mutant plants contained negligible levels of jasmonate and showed extremely high mortality (≈80%) from attack by larvae of a common saprophagous fungal gnat, Bradysia impatiens (Diptera: Sciaridae), even though neighboring wild-type plants were largely unaffected. Application of exogenous methyl jasmonate substantially protected the mutant plants and reduced mortality to ≈12%. These experiments precisely define the role of jasmonate as being essential for the induction of biologically effective defense in this plant–insect interaction. The transcripts of three wound-responsive genes were shown not to be induced by wounding of mutant plants but the same transcripts could be induced by application of methyl jasmonate. By contrast, measurements of transcript levels for a gene encoding glutathione S-transferase demonstrated that wound induction of this gene is independent of jasmonate synthesis. These results indicate that the mutant will be a good genetic model for testing the practical effectiveness of candidate defense genes.

Chemical phenotype matching between a plant and its insect herbivore

Two potential outcomes of a coevolutionary interaction are an escalating arms race and stable cycling. The general expectation has been that arms races predominate in cases of polygenic inheritance of resistance traits and permanent cycling predominates in cases in which resistance is controlled by major genes. In the interaction between Depressaria pastinacella, the parsnip webworm, and Pastinaca sativa, the wild parsnip, traits for plant resistance to insect herbivory (production of defensive furanocoumarins) as well as traits for herbivore “virulence” (ability to metabolize furanocoumarins) are characterized by continuous heritable variation. Furanocoumarin production in plants and rates of metabolism in insects were compared among four midwestern populations; these traits then were classified into four clusters describing multitrait phenotypes occurring in all or most of the populations. When the frequency of plant phenotypes belonging to each of the clusters is compared with the frequency of the insect phenotypes in each of the clusters across populations, a remarkable degree of frequency matching is revealed in three of the populations. That frequencies of phenotypes vary among populations is consistent with the fact that spatial variation occurs in the temporal cycling of phenotypes; such processes contribute in generating a geographic mosaic in this coevolutionary interaction on the landscape scale. Comparisons of contemporary plant phenotype distributions with phenotypes of herbarium specimens collected 9–125 years ago from across a similar latitudinal gradient, however, suggest that for at least one resistance trait—sphondin concentration—interactions with webworms have led to escalatory change.

Concerted biosynthesis of an insect elicitor of plant volatiles

A variety of agricultural plant species, including corn, respond to insect herbivore damage by releasing large quantities of volatile compounds and, as a result, become highly attractive to parasitic wasps that attack the herbivores. An elicitor of plant volatiles, N-(17-hydroxylinolenoyl)-l-glutamine, named volicitin and isolated from beet armyworm caterpillars, is a key component in plant recognition of damage from insect herbivory. Chemical analysis of the oral secretion from beet armyworms that have fed on 13C-labeled corn seedlings established that the fatty acid portion of volicitin is plant derived whereas the 17-hydroxylation reaction and the conjugation with glutamine are carried out by the caterpillar by using glutamine of insect origin. Ironically, these insect-catalyzed chemical modifications to linolenic acid are critical for the biological activity that triggers the release of plant volatiles, which in turn attract natural enemies of the caterpillar.

Cholesterol-independent Targeting of Golgi Membrane Proteins in Insect Cells

Distinct lipid compositions of intracellular organelles could provide a physical basis for targeting of membrane proteins, particularly where transmembrane domains have been shown to play a role. We tested the possibility that cholesterol is required for targeting of membrane proteins to the Golgi complex. We used insect cells for our studies because they are cholesterol auxotrophs and can be depleted of cholesterol by growth in delipidated serum. We found that two well-characterized mammalian Golgi proteins were targeted to the Golgi region of Aedes albopictus cells, both in the presence and absence of cellular cholesterol. Our results imply that a cholesterol gradient through the secretory pathway is not required for membrane protein targeting to the Golgi complex, at least in insect cells.

The aphid transmission factor of cauliflower mosaic virus forms a stable complex with microtubules in both insect and plant cells

We analyzed the distribution of the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) aphid transmission factor (ATF), produced via a baculovirus recombinant, within Sf9 insect cells. Immunogold labeling revealed that the ATF colocalizes with an atypical cytoskeletal network. Detailed observation by electron microscopy demonstrated that this network was composed of microtubules decorated with paracrystalline formations, characteristic of the CaMV ATF. A derivative mutant of the ATF, unable to self-assemble into paracrystals, was also analyzed. This mutant formed a net-like structure, with a mesh of four nanometers, tightly sheathing microtubules. Both the ATF– and the derivative mutant–microtubule complexes were highly stable. They resisted dilution-, cold-, and calcium-induced microtubule disassembly as well as a combination of all three for over 6 hr. CaMV ATF cosedimented with microtubules and, surprisingly, it bound to Taxol-stabilized microtubules at high ionic strength, thus suggesting an atypical interaction when compared with that usually described for microtubule-binding proteins. Using immunofluorescence double labeling we also demonstrated that the CaMV ATF colocalizes with the microtubule network when expressed in plant cells.

Methionine-independent initiation of translation in the capsid protein of an insect RNA virus

Protein synthesis is believed to be initiated with the amino acid methionine because the AUG translation initiation codon of mRNAs is recognized by the anticodon of initiator methionine transfer RNA. A group of positive-stranded RNA viruses of insects, however, lacks an AUG translation initiation codon for their capsid protein gene, which is located at the downstream part of the genome. The capsid protein of one of these viruses, Plautia stali intestine virus, is synthesized by internal ribosome entry site-mediated translation. Here we report that methionine is not the initiating amino acid in the translation of the capsid protein in this virus. Its translation is initiated with glutamine encoded by a CAA codon that is the first codon of the capsid-coding region. The nucleotide sequence immediately upstream of the capsid-coding region interacts with a loop segment in the stem–loop structure located 15–43 nt upstream of the 5′ end of the capsid-coding region. The pseudoknot structure formed by this base pair interaction is essential for translation of the capsid protein. This mechanism for translation initiation differs from the conventional one in that the initiation step controlled by the initiator methionine transfer RNA is not necessary.

Chemical defense against predation in an insect egg

The larva of the green lacewing (Ceraeochrysa cubana) (Neuroptera, Chrysopidae) is a natural predator of eggs of Utetheisa ornatrix (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae), a moth that sequesters pyrrolizidine alkaloids from its larval foodplant (Fabaceae, Crotalaria spp.). Utetheisa eggs are ordinarily endowed with the alkaloid. Alkaloid-free Utetheisa eggs, produced experimentally, are pierced by the larva with its sharp tubular jaws and sucked out. Alkaloid-laden eggs, in contrast, are rejected. When attacking an Utetheisa egg cluster (numbering on average 20 eggs), the larva subjects it to an inspection process. It prods and/or pierces a small number of eggs (on average two to three) and, if these contain alkaloid, it passes “negative judgement” on the remainder of the cluster and turns away. Such generalization on the part of the larva makes sense, because the eggs within clusters differ little in alkaloid content. There is, however, considerable between-cluster variation in egg alkaloid content, so clusters in nature can be expected to range widely in palatability. To check each cluster for acceptability must therefore be adaptive for the larva, just as it must be adaptive for Utetheisa to lay its eggs in large clusters and to apportion alkaloid evenly among eggs of a cluster.