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Bacillus thuringiensis novel toxin Epp is toxic to mosquitoes and prodenia litura larvae

  • Bacterial and Fungal Pathogenesis - Research Paper
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Abstract

As a pathogenic bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) has become an alternative to chemical insecticides in commercial agricultural to control forestry pests and mosquitoes. To prevent pest resistance, many novel Bt strains have been isolated. Strain S3580-1 (WGS: VHPX0000000) used in this research and originally isolated from Hainan Qixianling National Forest Park (China) showed significant toxicity to Culex pipiens pallens. Here, using whole genome sequencing, assembly, and bioinformatics analysis, the predicted S3580-1CG_5163 (GenBank Accession No. MK124137) gene-encoded protein was found to share low homology with known toxins designated by the Bt toxin nomenclature system. It was considered to be an ETX/MTX2-type toxin and was designated Epp. Bioinformatics analysis showed that the predicted S3580-1CG_5163 gene-encoded protein Epp shared low identity with other known toxic protein sequences containing Cry-ETX/MTX conserved domains at the amino acid level, but significant similarity at the structural level. In addition, bioassays showed that Epp was toxic against Spodoptera litura (LC50 296.133 μg/mL; 95% FL 200.555–471.318 μg/mL) and Cx. pipiens pallens (LC50 322.193 μg/mL; 95% FL 238.217–477.243 μg/mL). On pathological observation, the peritrophic membrane of Cx. pipiens pallens larvae was degraded causing the midgut structure to become incomplete, resulting in larval death. Further bioassays are required to fully elucidate the insecticidal spectrum of the ETX/MTX2-type toxin Epp, and thereby provide future research directions.

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Acknowledgments

All of the intellectual property rights are owned by Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resources. The insect breeding and bioassay investigations were carried out in the Institute of Life Science of Jiyang College of Zhejiang A&F University. We thank Kate Fox, DPhil, from Liwen Bianji, Edanz Group China (www.liwenbianji.cn/ac), for editing the English text of a draft of this manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by the Innovation Project of Guangxi Graduate Education (YCBZ2014006), the Key Laboratory of Subtropical Biomass Conservation and Utilization Key Laboratory Open Project (Novel Bt Strain Novel Toxin Genes and Its Protein Function Identification) (DD190043), and the Study Abroad Program for Excellent PhD Students of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (YZ).

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Author notes

  1. College of Life Science and Technology/State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of SubtropicalAgro-bioresources, Guangxi University and Institute of Life Science, Jiyang College of Zhejiang A&F University contributed equally.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life Science and Technology/State Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of SubtropicalAgro-bioresources, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, China

    Yan Zhou, Youzhi Li & Xuanjun Fang

  2. Institute of Life Science, Jiyang College of Zhejiang A&F University, Zhuji, 311800, China

    Zhongqi Wu, Jie Zhang & Xuanjun Fang

  3. Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resources, Sanya, 572025, China

    Zhongqi Wu, Jie Zhang & Xuanjun Fang

  4. Cuixi Academy of Biotechnology, Zhuji, 311800, China

    Zhongqi Wu, Jie Zhang & Xuanjun Fang

  5. Biotechnology Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100091, China

    Zhongqi Wu, Jie Zhang, Yusong Wan & Wujun Jin

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  1. Yan Zhou
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  2. Zhongqi Wu
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Correspondence to Xuanjun Fang.

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Zhou, Y., Wu, Z., Zhang, J. et al. Bacillus thuringiensis novel toxin Epp is toxic to mosquitoes and prodenia litura larvae. Braz J Microbiol 51, 437–445 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42770-019-00194-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42770-019-00194-z

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