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23 Congress of the International Union for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
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44 Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
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Foz do Iguaçu, PR, Brazil, August 24 to 28 , 2015
DELETERIOUS EFFECT OF VICILIN FROM ERYTHRINA VELUTINA AND
CANAVALIA ENSIFORMIS SEEDS ON THE FRUIT FLY CERATITIS CAPITATA:
LABORATORIAL AND IN SEMI-FIELD EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS
Cleysyvan de S. Macedo 1,3, Ticiana M. L. Amorim1, Adeliana S. Oliveira1, Leonardo P.
Macedo1, Raphael Russi1, Adriana F. Uchôa2, Francisco P. Macedo2, Elizeu A. Santos1
1
Laboratório de Química e Função de Proteínas Bioativas, Departamento de
Bioquímica, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte,
Natal, RN, Brazil.
2
Departamento de Biologia Celular e Genética, Centro de Biociências, Universidade
Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil.
3
Instituto Federal da Paraíba, Campus Monteiro, Monteiro, Paraíba, Brazil.
Abstract
Vicilins are legume seed storage proteins that have shown deleterious effect on
development of several insects’ species. The objective from this work was test the
deleterious effect of the vicilins from Erythrina velutina upon the Mediterranean fly fruits
Ceratitis capitatain the laboratory and semi-field conditions. In this work, we isolated
vicilins from E. velutina and Canavalia ensiformes seeds by ammonium sulfate
precipitation, followed by affinity chromatography on a chitin column, and tested their
effect on female adults of the Mediterranean fruit fly C. capitata by bioassay in
laboratory and cages in semi-field conditions. In both bioassay models, the effect of
incorporation of these vicilins in artificial diet, at the concentration of 5, 10 and 15%
(w/w), showed that the vicilins purificated from E. velutina (EvV) caused higher insect
mortality than the C. ensiformis vicilin (CeV). Mechanism of action of the vicilins was
investigated by in vivo digestibility (by enzymes present in the intestinal tract of insects)
and binding the vicilins to chitin present in the peritoneal membrane of the intestine of
C. capitata larvae. The digestibility of adult female was tested in vivo laboratory
conditions and observed on SDS-page. Although both the vicilins were able to bind to
structures from the insect gut, EvV was more resistant to enzymatic digestion than CeV
and was lethal to female adults of C. capitata. These results suggest that EvV may be
part of the pest management programs or an alternative in plant improvement program
in the population control of this fruit-culture pest.
Keywords: Ceratitis capitata; bioinsecticidal vicilin; semi-field test.
Brazilian Society for Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology (SBBq)