In the arsenal of plant defense, protease inhibitors (PIs) are well-designed defensive products to counter field pests. PIs are produced in plant tissues by means of ‘stable defense metabolite’ and triggered on demand as the perception of the signal and well established as a part of plant active defense. PIs have been utilized for approximately four decades, initially as a gene-alone approach that was later replaced by multiple gene pyramiding/gene stacking due to insect adaptability towards the PI alone. By considering the adaptive responses of the pest to the single insecticidal gene, the concept of gene pyramiding gained continuous appreciation for the development of transgenic crops to deal with co-evolving pests. Gene pyramiding approaches are executed to bypass the insectʼs adaptive responses against PIs. Stacking PIs with additional insecticidal proteins, plastid engineering, recombinant proteinase inhibitors, RNAi-based methods and CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing are the advanced tools and methods for next-generation pest management. Undoubtedly, the domain associated with the mechanism of PIs in the course of plant–pest interactions will occupy a central role for the advancement of more efficient and sustainable pest control strategies. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

中文翻译：

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评估植物蛋白酶抑制剂的杀虫效果：共同进化战中的致命武器

在植物防御武器库中，蛋白酶抑制剂 (PI) 是精心设计的防御产品，可对抗田间害虫。PIs 通过“稳定的防御代谢物”在植物组织中产生，并作为对信号的感知按需触发，并已成为植物主动防御的一部分。PIs 已经使用了大约 40 年，最初是作为一种单独的基因方法，后来由于昆虫对 PI 的适应性而被多基因金字塔/基因堆叠所取代。通过考虑害虫对单一杀虫基因的适应性反应，基因金字塔的概念在转基因作物的发展以应对共同进化的害虫方面获得了持续的认可。执行基因金字塔方法以绕过昆虫对 PIs 的适应性反应。将 PI 与额外的杀虫蛋白、质体工程、重组蛋白酶抑制剂、基于 RNAi 的方法和 CRISPR/Cas9 介导的基因组编辑相结合是下一代害虫管理的先进工具和方法。毫无疑问，与植物与害虫相互作用过程中 PIs 机制相关的领域将在推进更有效和可持续的害虫防治策略方面发挥核心作用。© 2021 化学工业协会。与植物与害虫相互作用过程中 PIs 机制相关的领域将在推进更有效和可持续的害虫防治策略方面发挥核心作用。© 2021 化学工业协会。与植物与害虫相互作用过程中 PIs 机制相关的领域将在推进更有效和可持续的害虫防治策略方面发挥核心作用。© 2021 化学工业协会。