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Increased baculovirus susceptibility of armyworm larvae feeding on transgenic rice plants expressing an entomopoxvirus gene

Nature Biotechnology volume 17, pages 1122–1124 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

We have introduced an entomopoxvirus gene encoding a virus enhancing factor (EF) into rice, which resulted in high-level accumulation of the EF in the transgenic plants. The introduced gene was stably inherited in the progeny of the primary transformants, as shown by analysis of their genomic DNA. Bioassays for insect susceptibility to baculovirus infection showed that armyworm larvae feeding on the transgenic rice had increased susceptibility to a Nucleopolyhedrovirus. Thus, introduction of the EF gene into plants can be used as a strategy to increase the effectiveness of baculoviruses in insect pest management.

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Figure 1: Diagram of expression vector pEF120 used for rice transformation.
Figure 2: Analysis of transgene expression.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Mr. Y. Hayashi at Plantech Research Institute for his cooperation in transformation experiments. This research was supported in part by a grant from the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Technical Information Society, Japan, and the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University, Kameino, Fujisawa, 252-8510, Japan

    Tosihiko Hukuhara

  2. Plantech Research Institute, 1000 Kamoshida, Aoba-ku, Yokohama, 227-0033, Japan

    Takahiko Hayakawa

  3. Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, 183-8509, Tokyo, Japan

    Arman Wijonarko

Authors
  1. Tosihiko Hukuhara
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  2. Takahiko Hayakawa
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  3. Arman Wijonarko
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Correspondence to Tosihiko Hukuhara.

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Hukuhara, T., Hayakawa, T. & Wijonarko, A. Increased baculovirus susceptibility of armyworm larvae feeding on transgenic rice plants expressing an entomopoxvirus gene. Nat Biotechnol 17, 1122–1124 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/15110

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