E.i. Dupont De Nemours and Company

Timothy Caspar

Steven Gutteridge

Yong Tao

Daniel Cordova

Lihong Wu

James J Rauh

Rejane M Smith

Mary Kolean Koeppe

Kevin Eugene Diehl

Kevin Ray Oldenburg

The genes encoding ryanodine receptor homologs have been characterized from multiple insect families. The genes and their corresponding polypeptides have a number of uses including but not limited to the development of screens to identify insecticidally active compounds. Methods are outlined for overcoming toxic effects of expressing recombinant proteins in host cells.

Isolation and use of ryanodine receptors

The genes encoding ryanodine receptor homologs have been characterized from multiple insect families including lepidopteran tobacco budworm (), homopteran green peach aphid (), corn plant hopper (), cotton melon aphid () and fruitfly (). The full-length genes have been isolated, cloned and amplified in bacterial cells. Expression in insect cells shows that the recombinant protein folds into a functional calcium release channel. The genes and their corresponding polypeptides have a number of uses including, but not limited to, the isolation of other pest ryanodine receptors, the development of screens to identify insecticidally active compounds, use of fragments of genes as pesticides, fragments of protein for antibody production, fragments of protein for determination of the structure of insecticide binding sites, and identification of insecticides that disrupt the calcium balance in cells through other messengers that interact with the receptor calcium release mechanism. Methods are outlined for overcoming toxic effects of expressing recombinant proteins in host cells.

Ryanodine receptor polypeptides

Nucleic acids encoding ryanodine receptors

Methods and apparati for screening compounds for agricultural activity has now been developed which employ e.g., intact plants grown in microtiter plates on very small amounts of plant growth media containing a test compound. In comparison to the standard greenhouse screen, the microscreen requires vastly less space, labor, and test compound. However, unlike in vitro screens, responses of intact plants are assayed. Using the microscreen, high-throughput screening of test compounds can be accomplished using whole plant responses as the assay.

Agricultural product microscreen method and apparatus

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Yorklyn, DE, United States of America

Timothy Caspar