Expression of garlic leaf lectin under the control of the phloem-specific promoter Asusl from Arabidopsis thaliana protects tobacco plants against the tobacco aphid (Myzus nicotianae).

The article discusses a comparative study on the insecticidal activities of two garlic lectins with different biological activities to check for correlation between the insecticidal properties and the specificity of lectins. The authors looked into the insecticidal activity of the garlic leaf lectin ASAL and bulb lectin ASAII in tobacco aphid Myzus nicotianae Blackmail with the use of bioassays with transgenic tobacco. They found out that bioassays with tobacco plants that showed ASAL and ASAII demonstrated an important impact on the population growth of M. nicotianae. It was also reported that both lectins can be viewed as valuable candidates for aphid control agents.