Due to the importance of chitinolytic enzymes for insect, nematode and fungal growth, they are receiving attention concerning their development as biopesticides or chemical defense proteins in transgenic plants and as microbial biocontrol agents. Targeting chitin associated with the extracellular matrices or cell wall by insect chitinases may be an effective approach for controlling pest insect...

Influenza vaccines have long been manufactured in embryonated chicken eggs. This method has some problems such as a production period (about 6 months) and use of large amounts infectious pathogens. Recently, the recombinant subunit using baculovirus–insect cell system extensively investigated. In this system, viral immunodominant components can be produced more rapidly larger scale than convent...

Proteases play a key role in the interaction between pathogens and their hosts. The bacterial entomopathogen Photorhabdus lives in symbiosis with nematodes that invade insects. Following entry into the insect, the bacteria are released from the nematode gut into the open blood system of the insect. Here they secrete factors which kill the host and also convert the host tissues into food for the...

Haemoplasmas contain Eperythrozoon and Haemobartonella species, which are widespread causes of animal and human infections. These obligatory cell parasites were previously known as Hemobartonella; now hemotropic mycoplasmas. These bacteria are identified by the lack of cell wall and their small genome. The usual diameter is between 0.3 and1μm. Mycoplasmasarepolymorphi...

(Cell 184, 1693–1705.e1–e17; April 1, 2021) We failed to cite two relevant papers in the Discussion of our paper. Our study reports on horizontal transfer a plant gene whiteflies, allowing these insects neutralize common defense compounds. By demonstrating function we highlight evolutionary implications for plant-insect interactions and show potential findings pest control by silencing via gene...

This investigation examined the utility of three recombinant protein-expression systems (COS cells, insect cells and insect larvae) to cost-effectively produce biologically active human butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE). It was determined that baculovirus-infected insect cells (Sf9 and High 5) expressed 3.5- and 8.2-fold, respectively, more active enzyme than COS-7 cells. Baculovirus-infected cabba...

We previously described a transgenic insect cell line, Sfbeta4GalT/ST6, that expresses mammalian beta-1,4-galactosyltransferase and alpha2,6-sialyltransferase genes and produces glycoproteins with terminally sialylated N-glycans. The ability of these cells to produce sialylated N-glycans was surprising because insect cells contain only small amounts of sialic acid and no detectable CMP-sialic a...