Barbara A. Rosen

Climate change is the greatest threat to public health of the 21st century, with disproportionate harm borne by the most vulnerable and disadvantaged New Jerseyans among us. Fortunately, a 21st century clean technology solution is available.

The microbial peptide BT, derived from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, is widely used to protect crops from insect pests. Schellenberger et al. identified another insecticidal peptide from a different soil-dwelling bacterium, Pseudomonas chlororaphis (see the Perspective by Tabashnik). Corn plants expressing the Pseudomonas peptide were protected from attack by western corn rootworm. Rootworms that were resistant to BT were susceptible to the Pseudomonas peptide.

The coleopteran insect western corn rootworm (WCR, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte) is a devastating crop pest in North America and Europe. Although crop plants that produce Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) proteins can limit insect infestation, some insect populations have evolved to be resistance to Bt proteins. Here we describe an insecticidal protein, designated IPD072Aa, that is isolated from Pseudomonas chlororaphis.