Lynamicin B is a Potential Pesticide by Acting as a Lepidoptera-Exclusive Chitinase Inhibitor.
Lu, Q., Xu, L., Liu, L., Zhou, Y., Liu, T., Song, Y., Ju, J., Yang, Q.(2021) J Agric Food Chem 69: 14086-14091
- PubMed: 34797675 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.1c05385
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
7VRG - PubMed Abstract: 
Insect group h chitinase is a promising target for designing non-target safe pesticides in that it is exclusively distributed in lepidopteran insects, over 80% of which are agricultural pests. In this work, lynamicin B was discovered to be an inhibitor of Of Chi-h, the group h chitinase from the lepidopteran pest Ostrinia furnacalis . Lynamicin B was revealed to competitively inhibit Of Chi-h with a K i value of 8.76 μM and does not significantly inhibit other chitinases. The co-crystal structure of lynamicin B and Of Chi-h revealed that the dichloroindolyl group of lynamicin B occupies an unexplored pocket below subsites +1 and +2 of the substrate-binding cleft, which is vital for its selectivity. Feeding experiments demonstrated that lynamicin B exhibited high insecticidal activities against other lepidopteran pests Mythimna separata and Spodoptera frugiperda besides O. furnacalis . Moreover, lynamicin B did not affect Trichogramma ostriniae , a natural enemy of O. furnacalis . This study provides a natural-derived potent pesticide for the control of lepidopteran pests, leaving its natural enemy unaffected.
Organizational Affiliation: 
School of Bioengineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.