J. Thomas McClintock

Toxicological considerations for protein components of biological pesticide products

The toxicity of protein components of microbial pesticide products is evaluated at EPA by requiring that pesticide manufacturers conduct a thorough taxonomic evaluation of the active microbial ingredient. The requirement for acute toxicity testing by dosing laboratory animals with the active microbial ingredient and with fermentation growth medium materials provides additional information on the toxicity of protein components of microbial pesticides. The potential for toxicity from proteins associated with contaminating organisms is addressed by use of appropriate quality control procedures to minimize or prevent growth of contaminants and by screening of fermentation batches for known human/mammalian pathogens. These considerations also would apply to any biochemical pesticide that is formed via the growth of a microorganism. If a protein itself is intended for commercial use as an active pesticide ingredient, acute exposure studies and in vitro digestibility studies could be done to answer potential concerns regarding toxicity.

A framework for the use of genomics data at the EPA

The US Environmental Protection Agency is developing a new guidance that outlines best practice in the submission, quality assurance, analysis and management of genomics data for environmental applications.

Forensic Analysis of Biological Evidence : A Laboratory Guide for Serological and DNA Typing

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DNA-binding proteins of baculovirus-infected cells during permissive and semipermissive replication

Certain insect cell lines have been shown to be permissive (TN-368) or semipermissive (IPLB-LD-652Y) for Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcMNPV) replication (McClintock et al., 1986b). In this report DNA-binding proteins were identified in such cell:virus systems by hybridizing Western blots containing uninfected and infected cell proteins with AcMNPV or host DNA probes. In the AcMNPV-infected TN-368 permissive cell system, 8 virus-induced DNA-binding proteins with molecular weights ranging from 67.5K to 18.75K were observed under the highest conditions of stringency. When these DNA-binding proteins were compared to structural proteins of AcMNPV, several appeared to be similar to those observed in SDS-PAGE protein profiles of nonoccluded virus (NOV) and occlusion body (PIBs) preparations. Using an AcMNPV occlusion negative mutant (L1GP-gal3) and an anti-AcMNPV-polyhedrin monoclonal antibody, a major DNA-binding protein (33.0K), observed in the permissive system, corresponded to polyhedrin and to a comigrating virus-induced DNA-binding protein. In the AcMNPV-infected IPLB-LD-652Y semipermissive cell system, no virus-induced DNA-binding proteins were detected. However, several host DNA-binding proteins were present but their ability to bind DNA decreased significantly following infection.