Biosaggi plurigenerazionali sull’Helicoverpa armigera (Hüb.) (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) alimentata con foglie di pomodoro transgenico per il gene KTI3 (Kunitz)

Abstract

H. armigera is, together with aphids, one of the industrial tomato key insects in central Italy. Its trophic action causes a decrease in the marketable production with high social costs for the agricultural operators. The aim of the present work was to perform a bioassay on the cotton bollworm, feeding the larva with Kunitz proteinase inhibitor coded by the KTI3 gene transgenic plant leaves. The molecules belonging to the Kunitz family have a molecular weight of 21-24 kDa and inhibit the serine proteinase, resulting active in the pH interval 9-11, that is the distinctive interval of Lepidoptera larva midgut. Riogrande cultivar tomato plants were transformed with the KTI3 gene through Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The analysis of the data obtained and their elaboration show a direct effect (negative) on the Lepidoptera biology, particularly in the second generation; this result could have, in the future, a direct containment action of the phytophagous populations in nature, causing a relevant decrease of the marketable production cull percentage.