Scientists at the Earlham Institute in Norwich “taught” tobacco to produce insect sex pheromones. The discovery could replace the expensive chemical synthesis of pheromones for pest control. The research was published in the journal Plant Biotechnology.
Pheromones are complex chemicals produced by organisms as communication signals. They allow you to inform other individuals about the readiness to breed, especially in moths and moths. Farmers may hang pheromone sprayers in their fields to mimic the signals of female insects, trap males, or deter them from finding mates. Some pheromones can be obtained through chemical synthesis, but this is very expensive and the product often contains toxic byproducts.
In a new study, scientists used tobacco Nicotiana benthamiana, for the production of sex moth pheromones. The same facility was previously designed to produce Ebola antibodies and even coronavirus-like particles for use in COVID vaccines. But pheromone production interfered with the growth of plants, which was reflected in their productivity.
Scientists have solved this problem, creating a tobacco that can produce a mixture of orange and bollworm pheromones. Now pheromones are being tested on live insects.