Residues of Legume AG41 Peptide Crucial to Its Bio-Insecticidal Activity

Fatima Diya (1) , Laurence Jouvensal (2) , Isabelle Rahioui (1) , Karine Loth (2) , Catherine Sivignon (1) , Lamis Karaki (3) , Linda Kfoury (4) , Francine Rizk (4) , Pedro da Silva (1)

1 BF2I - Biologie Fonctionnelle, Insectes et Interactions
2 CBM - Centre de biophysique moléculaire
3 LIU - Lebanese International University
4 LU / ULB - الجامعة اللبنانية [بيروت] = Lebanese University [Beirut] = Université libanaise [Beyrouth]

Currently, crop protection relies heavily on chemical treatments, which ultimately leads to environmental contamination and pest resistance. Societal and public policy considerations urge the need for new eco-friendly solutions. In this perspective, biopesticides are effective alternatives to chemical insecticides for the control of various insect pests. Legumes contain numerous insecticidal proteins aimed at protecting their high nitrogen content from animal/insect predation. Investigating one such protein family at genome scale, we discovered a unique diversity of the albumin 1 family in the (model) barrel medic genome. Only some members retained very high insecticidal activity. We uncovered that AG41 peptide from the alfalfa roots displays an outstanding insecticidal activity against several pests such as aphids and weevils. Here we report the 3D structure and activity of AG41 peptide. Significant insights into the structural/functional relationships explained AG41 high insecticidal activity. Such observations pave the way for the development of bio-insecticides, with AG41 peptide as the lead compound.

Keywords: peptide 3D structure; knottin peptide; bio-insecticidal peptide; structure function relationships; legume plant

Domains: Other; Agronomy

Fatima Diya, Laurence Jouvensal, Isabelle Rahioui, Karine Loth, Catherine Sivignon, et al.. Residues of Legume AG41 Peptide Crucial to Its Bio-Insecticidal Activity. Biomolecules, 2023, 13 (3), pp.446. ⟨10.3390/biom13030446⟩. ⟨hal-04045320⟩