Research Projects

Ecological off-targeting and emergence of resistance has highlighted the need for environmentally-friendly insect control molecules. Insecticidal toxins from microbial sources are effective and explored for the development of bioinsecticides. Toxins like Bacillus thuringiensis crystal (Cry) and cytolytic (Cyt) toxin proteins are extensively used for the control of lepidopteran pests. Although, their selectivity, activity and efficacy toward major lepidopteran pests like Spodoptera frugiperda need to be enhanced for future application. Here, we propose a machine and deep learning-based approach for site saturation mutagenesis to modify the toxin protein for more potent and specific interaction with S. frugiperda target proteins. Furthermore, the efficacy of the mutant toxin peptides will be further improved by creating chimera of wild and mutant Cry and Cyt coupled with cell-penetrating cupid peptides. Interactions of mutant and chimera proteins' will be analyzed with protein-protein docking and molecular dynamic simulations. Selected mutant peptides and their chimera will be analyzed for effectivity using in vitro cell-based assay and in vivo feeding bioassay on S. frugiperda. Highly selective and effective toxin proteins will be formulated for external application of insect control on the plants. The obtained information will be beneficial for developing bio-insecticides against S. frugiperda without harming beneficial species.