PARATRANSGENESIS TO CONTROL PIERCES DISEASE: TOXIC PEPTIDES AGAINST XYLELLA

• Author(s): Cooksey, Donald; Miller, Thomas; Bextine, Blake; Kuzina, Ludmila; Lampe, David; Lauzon, Carol;
• Abstract: The use of symbiotic bacteria in insects to disrupt pathogen transmission is a new approach to disease control. Alcaligenes xylosoxidans denitrificans bacterium was isolated from the mouthparts of wild glassy-winged sharpshooter and was chosen to be the first candidate for delivery products that inhibit X. fastidiosa. To find an appropriate agent for control of Pierces disease, 90 antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) derived from a combinatorial peptide library (in addition to 59 screened previously from different sources) were tested for activity on 11 X. fastidiosa and 3 Alcaligenes strains. Forty four peptides showed potent antimicrobial activity against all strains studied. Six antimicrobial peptides (in addition to 4 found last year) were selected with toxicity to X. fastidiosa but not against Alcaligenes as a candidates for engineering of the sharpshooters symbiont. More detailed studies of minimum inhibitory concentrations of these peptides were conducted. The Glutathione s-transferase gene fusion and trc expression systems are being developed to express individual AMPs in vitro.
• Publication Date: Dec 2004
• Journal: 2004 Pierce's Disease Research Symposium