scorpion venom may help protect plants from insects, according to research conducted by neurobiologist and toxicologist Ke Dong, University of Michigan. This natural pesticide analogues can replace chemicals used today, except farming.
According to the study, the venom of scorpions attacking multiple channels and receptors that control nerve and muscle systems of their prey, but the scorpion toxins selectively affect one type of sodium channels , and they do with others. "The goal of this project on the toxicity of the scorpion is to understand why certain toxins acting on sodium channels of insects, but they do those of mammals," says the scientist.
Dong and his team want to identify amino acid residues that make the sodium channels of insects more vulnerable to Israeli scorpion venom of the desert. "To investigate the effect of the venom on gated sodium channels in insects can provide valuable information to design new insecticides that can work selectively, affecting only that part of the body of insects," says the biologist.
currently existing chemical insecticides that act on sodium channels, but the bugs eventually become resistant to them over time. Research is needed on how to get to this resistance and develop alternatives to control resistant pests. RT.COM
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