Spider venoms² are usually toxic³ when injected into prey⁴, but a new protein discovered in the venom¹（毒液） of Australian tarantulas（狼蛛） can also kill prey insects that consume the venom orally. The protein is strongly insecticidal to the cotton bollworm（棉铃虫）, an important agricultural pest, according to research published September 11 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Glenn King and Maggie Hardy⁵ from the Institute of Molecular⁶ Bioscience at the University of Queensland, Australia, and colleagues from other institutions. The small protein, named orally active insecticidal peptide-1 (OAIP-1), was found to be highly toxic to insects that consumed it, with potency⁷ similar to that of the synthetic⁸ insecticide imidacloprid（吡虫啉）. Cotton bollworm, a pest that attacks crop plants, was more sensitive to OAIP-1 than termites⁹ and mealworms, which attack stored grains.

 

These and other insect pests reduce global crop yields by 10-14% annually¹⁰ and damage 9-20% of stored food crops, and several species are resistant¹¹ to available insecticides. Isolated¹² peptides from the venom of spiders or other venomous insectivorous animals, such as centipedes and scorpions¹³, may have the potential to serve as bioinsecticides. Alternately, the authors suggest the genes¹⁴ encoding these peptides could be used to engineer insect-resistant plants or enhance the efficacy of microbes that attack insect pests. King elaborates, "The breakthrough discovery that spider toxins¹⁵ can have oral activity has implications not only for their use as bioinsecticides, but also for spider-venom peptides（多肽类，缩氨酸） that are being considered for therapeutic¹⁶ use."

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