Bacillus thuringiensis has been widely used as a bio-insecticide. However, novel biological activities other than insect toxicity of B. thuringiensis are still underestimated. In this study, a new lipopeptide biosynthesis gene cluster in B. thuringiensis BMB171 was discovered by genome mining and verified by reverse genetics. Thumolycin, the lipopeptide synthesized by this gene cluster, was then isolated and purified. Mass spectrum analysis revealed the molecular mass of thumolycin is 696.51 Da with the predicted molecular formula of C38H64N8O4. Further bioactivities assay showed that thumolycin endowed B. thuringiensis BMB171 with broad spectrum antimicrobial and nematocidal activities.

苏云金芽孢杆菌已被广泛用作生物杀虫剂。然而，苏云金芽孢杆菌的除昆虫毒性以外的新的生物活性仍被低估了。在这项研究中，通过基因组挖掘发现了苏云金芽孢杆菌BMB171中新的脂肽生物合成基因簇，并通过反向遗传学进行了验证。然后分离并纯化了由该基因簇合成的脂肽硫柳霉素。质谱分析表明，thumolycin的分子量为696.51 Da，具有预测的分子式C38H64N8O4。进一步的生物活性测定表明，thumolycin使苏云金芽胞杆菌BMB171具有广谱的抗菌和杀线虫活性。