ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2009
Targeting an antimicrobial effector function in insect immunity as a pest control strategy.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 59 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
59 citing papers in PubMed, 152 citations in OpenAlex.
- dsRNA-mediated interference with RcβGRPs significantly reduced the resistance of Reticulitermes chinensis Snyder (Blattodea: Termitidae) to pathogens.Pest management science · 2026Article
- The role of fungal chitinases in the tripartite interactions among insects, plants and entomopathogenic fungi.Pest management science · 2026Review
- Article
- Secretions of the Frontal Gland of a Nasute Termite Soldier: The Role in the Defense against an Entomopathogenic Fungi.Journal of chemical ecology · 2025Article
- The Function of Termicin fromInsects · 2024Article
- Article
- A life-and-death struggle: interaction of insects with entomopathogenic fungi across various infection stages.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Review
- Article
- A High Soldier Proportion Encouraged the Greater Antifungal Immunity in a Subterranean Termite.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Article
- Nitric Oxide-Induced Calcineurin A Mediates Antimicrobial Peptide Production Through the IMD Pathway.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Article
- Species- and Caste-Specific Gut Metabolomes in Fungus-Farming Termites.Metabolites · 2021Article
- Reduced Environmental Microbial Diversity on the Cuticle and in the Galleries of a Subterranean Termite Compared to Surrounding Soil.Microbial ecology · 2021Article
- Natural variation in colony inbreeding does not influence susceptibility to a fungal pathogen in a termite.Ecology and evolution · 2021Article
- Termites Are Associated with External Species-Specific Bacterial Communities.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2021Article
- Microbial Response to Fungal Infection in a Fungus-Growing Termite,Frontiers in microbiology · 2021Article
- Young but not defenceless: antifungal activity during embryonic development of a social insect.Royal Society open science · 2020Article
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- Article
- Review
- Unbalanced biparental care during colony foundation in two subterranean termites.Ecology and evolution · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Insect pests such as termites cause damages to crops and man-made structures estimated at over $30 billion per year, imposing a global challenge for the human economy. Here, we report a strategy for compromising insect immunity that might lead to the development of nontoxic, sustainable pest control methods. Gram-negative bacteria binding proteins (GNBPs) are critical for sensing pathogenic infection and triggering effector responses. We report that termite GNBP-2 (tGNBP-2) shows beta(1,3)-glucanase effector activity previously unknown in animal immunity and is a pleiotropic pattern recognition receptor and an antimicrobial effector protein. Termites incorporate this protein into the nest building material, where it functions as a nest-embedded sensor that cleaves and releases pathogenic components, priming termites for improved antimicrobial defense. By means of rational design, we present an inexpensive, nontoxic small molecule glycomimetic that blocks tGNBP-2, thus exposing termites in vivo to accelerated infection and death from specific and opportunistic pathogens. Such a molecule, introduced into building materials and agricultural methods, could protect valuable assets from insect pests.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.