Location: Horticultural Crops Disease and Pest Management Research Unit
Project Number: 2072-30400-001-019-A
Project Type: Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Aug 1, 2026
End Date: Apr 30, 2027
Objective:
Arthropod pests cause over $120 billion in agricultural losses annually in the U.S., with invasive species posing an even greater threat due to the absence of natural predators.
This project focuses on invasive insect pests of horticultural and nursery crops, including the spotted lanternfly and box tree moth, and aims to develop an innovative, biologically based control method using advanced molecular technologies.
Approach:
1. Identification of bioactive peptides targeting spotted lanternfly (SLF): SLF CAPA-R will be functionally expressed in Sf9 insect cells and characterized using natural ligands. To screen for SLF-specific bioactive peptides, we will express SLF CAPA-R in Sf9 cells using a peptide library and perform bio panning to identify potential ligands.
2. Identification of bioactive peptides targeting box tree moth (BTM): The BTM CAPA-R will also be functionally expressed in Sf9 cells and used to identify bioactive peptides following the same methodology described above.
3. Design and synthesis peptides for SLF and BTM: Bioactive peptide candidates targeting SLF and BTM will be structurally modified to enhance stability and bioactivity. Cyclization will be achieved by introducing cysteine residues at both termini to enable disulfide bond formation.