Insect resistance to dietary protease inhibitors

Protease inhibitors (PIs) are plant defensive com-pounds that are considered as candidates for future genetic modification of crop plants. They target the digestive proteolytic enzymes in the gut of insects. However, insect resistance to these antinutritional PIs is frequently observed. The general aim of this research was to identify PI induced compensatory responses in the gut of the African migratory locust, Locusta migratoria, an infamous pest insect, capable of forming huge swarms. Using microarray analysis we studied transcriptional changes after oral uptake of plant protease inhibitors by the locust.status: publishe