Be(e) friendly venomous spiders! Novel biopesticides from arachnid venoms

该项目的总体目标是通过开发新的蜜蜂友好型生物杀虫剂以及治疗蜜蜂寄生虫(如瓦螨和小蜂箱甲虫)来改善全球蜜蜂的健康。该项目旨在显著改进蜘蛛毒液中现有的杀虫铅肽，以增加其口服毒性，并使其具有更强的害虫特异性。该项目的预期成果包括一组生物可降解的毒肽，这些毒肽对选定的害虫和寄生虫物种具有活性，并且可以经济地大规模生产。这不仅将在全球范围内提供显著的环境、社会和经济效益，而且还将促进澳大利亚农用化学品研究部门的发展。

The overall aim of this project is to improve global honeybee health by developing novel bee-friendly bioinsecticides as well as treatments against honeybee parasites such as varroa mites and small hive beetles. This project seeks to significantly improve existing insecticidal lead peptides from spider venoms to increase their oral toxicity and make them more pest-specific. Expected outcomes of this project include a panel of biologically degradable venom peptides that are active against selected pest and parasite species and that can be economically produced in large scale. This would not only provide significant environmental, social and economical benefits on a global scale, but also boost the Australian agrochemical research sector.