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Protein toxicity to aphids: an in vitro test on Acyrthosiphon pisum

Recent progress in plant transformation for insect resistance has increased the interest in the potential toxicity of proteins towards insect pests. While studies have been targeted to a large array of insect species, phloem‐feeding Homoptera have not been investigated yet. The paper describes a routine test for screening toxicity and growth inhibition of purified proteins in artificial diets on Acyrthosiphon pisum (Harris). Twenty‐five commercially available proteins of different classes were tested and compared to some non‐protein chemicals (an insecticide, an antibiotic …). A. pisum proved to be very sensitive to all proteases tested and to some venoms with general cytolytic properties. A plant lectin, concanavalin A, displayed significant toxicity and growth inhibition, while various proteins such as a soybean proteinase inhibitor, a chitinase, and bovine serum albumin showed measurable impairments of growth only at higher dose (≥250 μg.ml−1). Some proteins were without short‐term effect on A. pisum physiology. The influence of these results on aphid‐plant interactions are discussed.