The Predatory Stink Bug Arma custos (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Produces a Complex Proteinaceous Venom to Overcome Caterpillar Prey

Yuli Qu; Andrew A. Walker; Ling Meng; Volker Herzig; Baoping Li

doi:10.3390/biology12050691

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The Predatory Stink Bug Arma custos (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Produces a Complex Proteinaceous Venom to Overcome Caterpillar Prey

Journal article

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The Predatory Stink Bug Arma custos (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Produces a Complex Proteinaceous Venom to Overcome Caterpillar Prey

Yuli Qu, Andrew A. Walker, Ling Meng, Volker Herzig and Baoping Li

Biology, Vol.12(5), pp.1-17

2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/biology12050691

PMCID: PMC10215959

PMID: 37237505

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Abstract

predatory stink bugs

venom

protein

transcriptomic

proteomic

bioactivity

insecticidal

Asopinae

lepidoptera

caterpillars

Predatory stink bugs capture prey by injecting salivary venom from their venom glands using specialized stylets. Understanding venom function has been impeded by a scarcity of knowledge of their venom composition. We therefore examined the proteinaceous components of the salivary venom of the predatory stink bug Arma custos (Fabricius, 1794) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). We used gland extracts and venoms from fifth-instar nymphs or adult females to perform shotgun proteomics combined with venom gland transcriptomics. We found that the venom of A. custos comprised a complex suite of over a hundred individual proteins, including oxidoreductases, transferases, hydrolases, ligases, protease inhibitors, and recognition, transport and binding proteins. Besides the uncharacterized proteins, hydrolases such as venom serine proteases, cathepsins, phospholipase A2, phosphatases, nucleases, alpha-amylases, and chitinases constitute the most abundant protein families. However, salivary proteins shared by and unique to other predatory heteropterans were not detected in the A. custos venom. Injection of the proteinaceous (>3 kDa) venom fraction of A. custos gland extracts or venom into its prey, the larvae of the oriental armyworm Mythimna separata (Walker, 1865), revealed insecticidal activity against lepidopterans. Our data expand the knowledge of heteropteran salivary proteins and suggest predatory asopine bugs as a novel source for bioinsecticides.

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Title: The Predatory Stink Bug Arma custos (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Produces a Complex Proteinaceous Venom to Overcome Caterpillar Prey
Authors: Yuli Qu (Author)
Andrew A. Walker (Author) - The University of Queensland
Ling Meng (Author)
Volker Herzig (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Centre for Bioinnovation
Baoping Li (Author)
Publication details: Biology, Vol.12(5), pp.1-17
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date published: 2023
DOI: 10.3390/biology12050691
ISSN: 2079-7737
PMID: 37237505; PMC10215959
Copyright note: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).
Grants: Be(e) friendly venomous spiders! Novel biopesticides from arachnid venoms, FT190100482, Australian Research Council (Australia, Canberra) - ARC
Grant note: 2017YFD0201000/ National Key R&D Program of China 202106850034/ China Scholarship Council DP200102867/ Australian Research Council through Discovery Project CE200100012/ Centre of Excellence
Organisation Unit: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Centre for Bioinnovation
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99728797902621
Output Type: Journal article

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