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A team of British researchers has genetically modified tobacco plants to produce sex pheromones to attract harmful insects and prevent them from reproducing, and thus harming crops. This discovery could allow farmers to do without certain pesticides in the future.
Researchers at the Earlham Institute in Norwich in the United Kingdom have succeeded in transforming plants, in this case tobacco plants, into a pheromone factory. Using precision genetic engineering techniques, they modified these plants to produce moth sex pheromones (Amyelois transitella and Helicoverpa armigera).
Pheromones are chemical molecules emitted by animals and certain plants. They make it possible, in particular, to communicate between the same species at the time of mating. Transforming plants into pheromone factories makes it possible to trap or divert, in the case of this studymale moths in search of a female, and thus prevent their reproduction.
For this so-called “synthetic” transformation, the team from the Earlham Institute teamed up with scientists from the Institute of Molecular Biology in Valence. Together, they modified a species of tobacco, called “Nicotiana benthamiana”, which had already been used to produce antibodies to fight the Ebola virus as well as particles similar to those of the coronavirus used for anti-Covid vaccines.
“Synthetic biology can allow us to engineer plants to make much more of something than they already do, or we can provide the genetic instructions that allow them to make new biological molecules, such as drugs or these pheromones“, said Dr. Nicola Patron, who conducted this research, in a Press release. Because this synthetic method has the advantage of being less expensive than the chemical processes usually used.
The group of researchers then introduced molecular switches into the DNA sequences of tobacco plants in order to precisely regulate the production of pheromones. Because excessive production of pheromones can harm plants. In order to remedy this problem, researchers have discovered that copper sulphate can be used to regulate pheromones. The components of the pheromones could thus be adjusted to better adapt to the different species of moths.
At the end of this study, the researchers hope that this discovery will attract harmful insects, without resorting to chemicals, such as pesticides. According to the latest data from the CAM (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), more than 4 million tons of pesticides are used worldwide each year.
“In the future, we may see greenhouses full of plant factories, which would be a greener, cheaper and more sustainable way to make complex molecules.“, concludes Dr. Patron.