Fungitoxic and insecticidal plant polypeptides.

According to the World Bank and FAO, the population grows worldwide and the poorest countries are expected to double their population within the next decades, reaching approximately 7.2 billion in 2015. Moreover, the food and financial crisis together with the global economic recession pushed the number of hungry and undernourished people in the world to unprecedented levels. The substitution of animal proteins by plant proteins in food and feed is a general trend because of the lower cost and better production efficiency. Pathogens and pests can reduce the crop yields up to 30%. In some places, the losses can reach 80% due to climate conditions, proliferation of insects, and fungal diseases. All together, the harvest and postharvest losses vary from 5% to 20% and depending on the commodity can be as high as 50%. Plants have a complex chemical armory for defense composed of low and high molecular mass compounds that can act over a variety of pests and pathogens, from micro-organisms to phytophagous insects or grazing animals. Among them, plant fungitoxic and insecticidal polypeptides represent promising alternatives to increase the supply of plant-derived proteins and tackle the hunger in a global scale.