Metarhizium species are the most abundant fungi that can be isolated from soil, with a well-known biopesticide capacity. Metarhizium recognizes their hosts when the conidium interacts with insects, where the fungi are in contact with the hydrocarbons of the outermost lipid layer cuticle. These cuticular hydrocarbons comprise a mixture of n-alkanes, n-alkenes, and methyl-branched chains. Metarhizium can degrade insect hydrocarbons and use these hydrocarbons for energy production and the biosynthesis of cellular components. The metabolism of nitroalkanes involves nitronate monooxygenase activity. In this work, we isolated a family of six genes with potential nitronate monooxygenase activity from Metarhizium brunneum. The six genes were expressed in Escherichia coli, and the nitronate monooxygenase activity was verified in the recombinant proteins. Additionally, when the conidia of M. brunneum were grown in medium with nitroalkanes, virulence against Plutella xylostella increased. Furthermore, we analyzed the expression of the six Npd genes during the infection to this insect, which showed differential expression of the six Npd genes during infection.

中文翻译：

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来自小菜蛾的亚硝酸盐单加氧酶基因家族的成员在小菜蛾的感染过程中被诱导。

根瘤菌是最丰富的真菌，可以从土壤中分离出来，具有众所周知的生物农药能力。当分生孢子与昆虫相互作用时，真菌会识别其宿主，而真菌与最外层脂质层表皮的碳氢化合物接触。这些表皮烃包含正构烷烃，正构烯烃和甲基支链的混合物。硫根可降解昆虫碳氢化合物，并将这些碳氢化合物用于能量生产和细胞成分的生物合成。硝基烷的代谢涉及硝酸单加氧酶活性。在这项工作中，我们分离了六个具有潜在亚硝酸单加氧酶活性的基因。这六个基因在大肠杆菌中表达，并在重组蛋白中验证了硝酸盐单加氧酶的活性。另外，当在含硝基烷烃的培养基中培养布鲁氏杆菌的分生孢子时，对小菜蛾的毒力增加。此外，我们分析了该昆虫在感染过程中六个Npd基因的表达，显示了在感染过程中六个Npd基因的差异表达。