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Marini G, Poland B, Leininger C, Lukoyanova N, Spielbauer D, Barry JK, Altier D, Lum A, Scolaro E, Ortega CP, Yalpani N, Sandahl G, Mabry T, Klever J, Nowatzki T, Zhao JZ, Sethi A, Kassa A, Crane V, Lu AL, Nelson ME, Eswar N, Topf M, Saibil HR. Structural journey of an insecticidal protein against western corn rootworm. Nat Commun 2023; 14:4171. [PMID: 37443175 PMCID: PMC10344926 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39891-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2023] [Accepted: 06/28/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The broad adoption of transgenic crops has revolutionized agriculture. However, resistance to insecticidal proteins by agricultural pests poses a continuous challenge to maintaining crop productivity and new proteins are urgently needed to replace those utilized for existing transgenic traits. We identified an insecticidal membrane attack complex/perforin (MACPF) protein, Mpf2Ba1, with strong activity against the devastating coleopteran pest western corn rootworm (WCR) and a novel site of action. Using an integrative structural biology approach, we determined monomeric, pre-pore and pore structures, revealing changes between structural states at high resolution. We discovered an assembly inhibition mechanism, a molecular switch that activates pre-pore oligomerization upon gut fluid incubation and solved the highest resolution MACPF pore structure to-date. Our findings demonstrate not only the utility of Mpf2Ba1 in the development of biotechnology solutions for protecting maize from WCR to promote food security, but also uncover previously unknown mechanistic principles of bacterial MACPF assembly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guendalina Marini
- Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet St, London, WC1E 7HX, UK
- Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB), Leibniz-Institut für Virologie (LIV), Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany
| | - Brad Poland
- Corteva Agriscience, Johnston, IA, 50131, USA
| | - Chris Leininger
- Corteva Agriscience, Johnston, IA, 50131, USA
- Syngenta, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA
| | - Natalya Lukoyanova
- Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet St, London, WC1E 7HX, UK
| | | | | | - Dan Altier
- Corteva Agriscience, Johnston, IA, 50131, USA
| | - Amy Lum
- Corteva Agriscience, Johnston, IA, 50131, USA
- Willow Biosciences, 319 N Bernardo Ave #4, Mountain View, CA, 94043, USA
| | | | - Claudia Pérez Ortega
- Corteva Agriscience, Johnston, IA, 50131, USA
- Hologic, Inc., 250 Campus Drive, Marlborough, MA, 01752, USA
| | - Nasser Yalpani
- Corteva Agriscience, Johnston, IA, 50131, USA
- Dept. of Biology, University of British Columbia Okanagan, 3187 University Way, Kelowna, BC, V1V 1V7, Canada
| | | | - Tim Mabry
- Corteva Agriscience, Ivesdale, IL, 61851, USA
| | | | | | | | - Amit Sethi
- Corteva Agriscience, Johnston, IA, 50131, USA
| | - Adane Kassa
- Corteva Agriscience, Johnston, IA, 50131, USA
| | | | - Albert L Lu
- Corteva Agriscience, Johnston, IA, 50131, USA
| | | | | | - Maya Topf
- Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet St, London, WC1E 7HX, UK.
- Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB), Leibniz-Institut für Virologie (LIV), Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Helen R Saibil
- Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, Birkbeck, University of London, Malet St, London, WC1E 7HX, UK.
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