Search

In order to enhance the production of glucose oxidase (GOD), random mutagenesis of Aspergillus tubingensis CTM 507 was performed using the chemical and physical mutagens: nitric acid and UV irradiation, respectively. The majority of the isolated mutants showed good GOD production, but only some mutants presented a significant overproduction, as compared with the parent strain. The selected mutants (19 strains), showing an overproduction larger than 200%, are quite stable after three successive subcultures. Among these, six strains revealed an important improvement in submerged fermentation. The insecticidal activity of GOD produced by the wild and the selected mutant strains was evaluated against the third larval instars of E . kuehniella . Mutant strains U11, U12, U20, and U21, presenting the most important effect, displayed an LC 50 value of 89.00, 88.51, 80.00, and 86.00 U/cm 2 , respectively, which was 1.5-fold more important than the wild strain (61 U/cm 2 ). According to histopathology observations, the GOD enzyme showed approximately similar damage on the E . kuehniella midgut including rupture and disintegration of the epithelial layer and cellular vacuolization. The data supports, for the first time, the use of GOD as a pest control agent against E . kuehniella ., Competing Interests: The authors declares that they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Mouna Kriaa et al.)

The carob moth, Ectomyelois ceratoniae, is an important agricultural pest that is susceptible to the Vip3(459) protein. The insecticidal activity, evaluated against this lepidopteran pest, displayed an LC 50 value of about 28 ng/cm 2 . The investigation of the mode of action of this B. thuringiensis protein demonstrated that the active form of this toxin bound to putative receptors in the BBMV of E. ceratoniae. Ligand blotting experiment proved that Vip3(459) specifically bound to two proteins of about 53 and 57 kDa, located on the midgut. This specific binding caused perturbations in midgut tissues. The histopathology of 20 midguts from Vip3(459)-feeding larvae showed cytoplasm vacuolization, brush border membrane destruction, vesicle formation in the apical region and cellular disintegration. These findings suggested that B. thuringiensis Vip3(459) could be a promising biocontrol agent to eradicate E. ceratoniae and to prevent emergence of resistance., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The entomopathogenic Photorhabdus luminescens TT01 is a promoting bacterium that controls effectively many insect pests. Indeed, it exhibited a mortality rate of 32.36% against the first instar larvae of the turnip moth Agrotis segetum, when it was used at a concentration of 5 × 10 7  cells/ml but no toxicity against the second instar larvae in the same condition. P. luminescens TT01 oral toxicity is associated to septicaemia since cells fraction exhibited the highest mortality rate of 34%. In order to enhance P. luminescens TT01 insecticidal potential, combination with Bacillus thuringiensis Vip3Aa16 toxin was tested. An improvement of insecticidal activity was shown. Indeed, 100% mortality of A. segetum first instar larvae was obtained after 2 days of treatment, when using TT01 cells and Vip3Aa16 toxin at a concentration of 5 × 10 7  cells/ml and 9.025 ng/cm 2 , respectively. Moreover, growth inhibition rate of 45% of the second instar larvae was observed, when using the same combination. A. segetum mortality could be the result of several alterations in the midgut epithelium caused by Vip3Aa16 toxin, allowing a rapid invasion of the hemocoel by TT01 cells as demonstrated by histopathological study. Clear symptoms of intoxication were observed for all combinations tested, including swelling, vesicle formation, cytoplasm vacuolization and brush border membrane lysis. Taken together, these results promote the use of P. luminescens TT01 as a potent bioinsecticide to control effectively A. segetum by oral treatment in a mixture with Vip3Aa16 toxin., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The economically important crop pest Ephestia kuehniella was tested at two stages of larval development for susceptibility to Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Aa toxin. Bioassays showed that toxicity decreased during the development of larvae stage. In fact, Cry1Aa toxins from BNS3-Cry - (pHT-cry1Aa) showed low toxicity against the first-instar larvae (L1) with a LC 50 value of about 421.02μg/g of diet and was not toxic against the fifth-instar (L5), comparing to the BLB1 toxins used as positive control which represent a LC 50 value of about 56.96 and 84.21μg/g of diet against L1 and L5 instars larvae, respectively. Effects of Cry1Aa toxins were reflected in histopathological observations by the weak destruction of midgut epithelium, slight hypertrophy of epithelial cells, and minor alteration of brush border membrane (BBM) detected mainly in L1 larvae stage comparing to the more extensive damage caused by BLB1 toxins. Interestingly, in vitro proteolysis of Cry1Aa toxins was found to correlate with the difference of toxicity during larval stage development. In fact, the weak proteinase activity detected inside the L1 midgut has led to the persistence of the Cry1Aa active forms (65 and 58kDa) during prolonged incubations, causing the alterations described previously. Three subfamilies of aminopeptidase (APN) receptors were detected in both larvae instars with different intensities and molecular weights (150kDa and 55kDa for APN1, and 90kDa for APN2 and APN4). Remarkably, binding assay using Cry1Aa toxin seems to have no direct correlation with larval stages toxicity differences, since same putative receptors were detected. Understanding the reasons for the clear differences in the effectiveness of Cry1Aa toxins during larval development stages of E. kuehniella is very important for the design of future improvement insecticidal approaches and for the accomplishment of resistance prevention strategies., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Isolation and identification of new strains with wide variety of target pests is an ever growing field. In this paper, a screening of 260 strains from Tunisian soil samples was conducted by dot-blot and PCR-sequencing analysis. The screening was done on the basis of the possession of cry1D-type genes and was followed by the evaluation of the insecticidal activity against Spodoptera littoralis. BLB250 strain showed an LC50 value (56.2 μg g(-1)) against S. littoralis lower than those of the two Bacillus thuringiensis reference strains HD1 and HD133. An interesting LC50 (167.6 μg g(-1)) was also recorded against Ephestia kuehniella larvae. The strain was, thus, selected because of its qualification to be highly toxic, at once, for both Lepidopteran insects. In vitro time course of proteolytic processing of BLB250 and HD133 protoxins by the gut juices from the two insect larvae revealed that the differences in toxicity against E. kuehniella are most likely attributed to differences in the efficiency of the activation of the corresponding protoxins into toxins. An activation comparative study using commercial proteases suggested that the intestinal proteases of E. kuehniella contain trypsin-like activities. With its high efficiency and toxicity against, at once, two Lepidopteran insects having different susceptibilities towards kurstaki and aizawai subspecies, BLB250 could be useful when developing more efficient and economical B. thuringiensis-based pesticides., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Cry2 proteins play an essential role in current Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) applications and in the prevention of insect resistance to Cry1A toxins. This paper reports on the screening and characterisation of novel Bt strains harbouring effective cry2A-type genes and higher insecticidal activity to Ephestia kuehniella., Results: A total of 29 native Bt strains were screened to search for the potent strain against E. kuehniella. The plasmid pattern of the selected strains showed interesting variability. PCR-RFLP analysis of two amplified regions showed high sequence identity within the selected cry2A-type genes. SDS-PAGE and western blot analysis revealed the presence of Cry2Aa toxin only in the MEB4 and BLB240 strains. The activation of Cry2Aa protoxins by larval midgut juice, trypsin or chymotrypsin enzymes revealed significant differences in terms of proteolysis profiles. Interestingly, a 49 kDa band was detected in the proteolysis pattern of BLB240, suggesting the presence of a chymotrypsin cleavage site that might have affected its insecticidal activity. Further, bioassays demonstrated that MEB4 (103.08 ± 36 µg g(-1)) was more active than BLB240 (153.77 ± 45.65 µg g(-1)) against E. kuehniella., Conclusion: Based on its potent insecticidal activity, the MEB4 strain could be considered to be an effective alternative agent for the control of E. kuehniella., (© 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.)

The use of biosurfactant in pest management has received much attention for the control of plant pathogens, but few studies reported their insecticidal activity. The present study describes the insecticidal activity of biosurfactant extracted from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens strain AG1. This strain produces a lipopeptide biosurfactant exhibiting an LC50 of about 180ng/cm(2) against Tuta absoluta larvae. Accordingly, the histopathologic effect of this biosurfactant on T. absoluta larvae showed serious damages of the midgut tissues including rupture and disintegration of epithelial layer and cellular vacuolization. By PCR, we showed that this biosurfactant could be formed by several lipopeptides and polyketides including iturin, fengycin, surfactin, bacyllomicin, bacillaene, macrolactin and difficidin. Binding experiment revealed that it recognized five putative receptors located in the BBMV of T. absoluta with sizes of 68, 63, 44, 30 and 19kDa. Therefore, biosurfactant AG1 hold potential for use as an environmentally friendly agent to control the tomato leaf miner., (Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

The vip3Aa16 gene of Bacillus thuringiensis strain BUPM95 was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. Optimization of Vip3A16 protein expression was conducted using Plackett-Burman design and response surface methodology. Accordingly, the optimum Vip3A16 toxin production was 170μg/ml at 18h post-induction time and 39°C post-induction temperature. This corresponds to an improvement of 21times compared to the starting conditions. The insecticidal activity, evaluated against Ectomyelois ceratoniae, displayed an LC50 value of 40ng/cm(2) and the midgut histopathology of Vip3Aa16 fed larvae showed vacuolization of the cytoplasm, brush border membrane destruction, vesicle formation in the apical region and cellular disintegration., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Tuta absoluta is a destructive moth of Solanaceae plants and especially tomatoes. Here, we considered the entomopathogenic activity of the Bacillus thuringiensis Vip3Aa16 protein heterologously produced by Escherichia coli against T. absoluta. Purified Vip3Aa16 showed lower lethal concentration 50 % against third instar larvae (Toxin/tomato leaf) (335 ± 17 ng/cm(2)) compared to that of B. thuringiensis kurstaki HD1 δ-endotoxins (955 ± 4 ng/cm(2)) (P < 0.05). Action mode examination showed that Vip3Aa16 (88 kDa) was more sensitive to proteolysis activation by the chymotrypsin than the trypsin or the larvae gut soluble proteases, yielding derivative proteins essentially of about 62 and 33 kDa. The gut-soluble proteases could contain trypsin-like enzymes implicated in Vip3Aa16 activation since the proteolysis was inhibited using specific protease inhibitors. Additionally, we showed that the histopathological effect of Vip3Aa16 on T. absoluta larva midguts consisted on a microvillus damage and an epithelial cell rupture.

Seventy-eight Bacillus thuringiensis isolates were selected for a screening against the Lepidoptera species Agrotis segetum to search the higher insecticidal activity. In a preliminary bioassay, the spore-crystal mixture of 78 B. thuringiensis isolates was tested against L1 larvae of A. segetum. Fifty-two isolates had more than 60% corrected mortality after 3 days. Seven isolates caused a corrected mortality of 100% on A. segetum. Twelve isolates were selected for a second bioassay investigating the effect of the vegetative insecticidal protein (Vip) against third-instar larvae. After 7 days, the weight gain and the larval stage of each larva were recorded. This bioassay showed an aberration in larval growth increases, morphology, and weight gain. After plasmid pattern analysis, the most active strains are most likely B. thuringiensis kurstaki strains expressing the Vip3A toxin. The absence of two proteinase activities observed in the case of Cry1Ac would be the consequence of the difference in susceptibility of A. segetum to the toxins used.

Considering the fact that Agrotis segetum is one of the most pathogenic insects to vegetables and cereals in the world, particularly in Africa, the mode of action of Vip3Aa16 of Bacillus thuringiensis BUPM95 and Cry1Ac of the recombinant strain BNS3Cry-(pHTcry1Ac) has been examined in this crop pest. A. segetum proteases activated the Vip3Aa16 protoxin (90kDa) yielding three bands of about 62, 45, 22kDa and the activated form of the toxin was active against this pest with an LC50 of about 86ng/cm(2). To be active against A. segetum, Cry1Ac protoxin was activated to three close bands of about 60-65kDa. Homologous and heterologous competition binding experiments demonstrated that Vip3Aa16 bound specifically to brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV) prepared from A. segetum midgut and that it does not inhibit the binding of Cry1Ac. Moreover, BBMV protein blotting experiments showed that the receptor of Vip3Aa16 toxin in A. segetum midgut differs from that of Cry1Ac. In fact, the latter binds to a 120kDa protein whereas the Vip3Aa16 binds to a 65kDa putative receptor. The midgut histopathology of Vip3Aa16 fed larvae showed vacuolization of the cytoplasm, brush border membrane lysis, vesicle formation in the goblet cells and disintegration of the apical membrane. The distinct binding properties and the unique protein sequence of Vip3Aa16 support its use as a novel insecticidal agent to control the crop pest A. segetum., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki strain BNS3 produces parasporal crystals formed by Cry1Aa, Cry1Ac and Cry2Aa delta-endotoxins. In a previous work, we showed that the latter exhibited individually, a weak insecticidal activity against Ephestia kuehniella. In order to improve their toxicities, we studied the combined effect of each delta-endotoxin with X. nematophila cells on E. kuehniella larvae growth. Xenorhabdus cells were used in combination with spore crystal mixture of the wild strain BNS3, known to be active against E. kuehniella, but no improvement in toxicity was observed. This could be due to the high efficiency of BNS3 crystals against this insect. However, when X. nematophila was combined with each of Cry1Aa, Cry1Ac and Cry2Aa, improvement of toxicity was noticed. The best improvements were obtained with Cry1Ac and Cry2Aa, which are more toxic to E. kuehniella than Cry1Aa. The difference in toxicity improvement was attributed to the low affinity of Cry1Aa to BBMV receptors, compared to those of Cry1Ac and Cry2Aa. This synergism between Cry toxins and Xenorhabdus cells could be exploited on control target insect, particularly in case of resistance to Cry toxins., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

BUPM95 is a Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki strain producing the Vip3Aa16 toxin with an interesting insecticidal activity against the Lepidopteran larvae Ephestia kuehniella. Study of different steps in the mode of action of this Vegetative Insecticidal Protein on the Mediterranean flour moth (E. kuehniella) was carried out in the aim to investigate the origin of the higher susceptibility of this insect to Vip3Aa16 toxin compared to that of the Egyptian cotton leaf worm Spodoptera littoralis. Using E. kuehniella gut juice, protoxin proteolysis generated a major band corresponding to the active toxin and another band of about 22kDa, whereas the activation of Vip3Aa16 by S. littoralis gut juice proteases generated less amount of the 62kDa active form and three other proteolysis products. As demonstrated by zymogram analysis, the difference in proteolysis products was due to the variability of proteases in the two gut juices larvae. The study of the interaction of E. kuehniella BBMV with biotinylated Vip3Aa16 showed that this toxin bound to a putative receptor of 65kDa compared to the 55 and 100kDa receptors recognized in S. littoralis BBMV. The histopathological observations demonstrated similar damage caused by the toxin in the two larvae midguts. These results demonstrate that the step of activation, mainly, is at the origin of the difference of susceptibility of these two larvae towards B. thuringiensis Vip3Aa16 toxin., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Cry1Ia and Cry1Aa proteins exhibited toxicities against Prays oleae with LC(50) of 189 and 116 ng/cm(2), respectively. The ability to process Cry1Ia11 protoxin by trypsin, chymotrypsin and P. oleae larvae proteases was studied and compared to that of Cry1Aa11. After solubilization under high alkaline condition (50mM NaOH), Cry1Aa11 was converted into a major fragment of 65 kDa, whereas Cry1Ia11 protoxin was completely degraded by P. oleae larvae proteases and trypsin and converted into a major fragment of 70 kDa by chymotrypsin. Using less proteases of P. oleae juice, the degradation of Cry1Ia11 was attenuated. When the solubilization (in 50mM Na(2)CO(3) pH 10.5 buffer) and activation were combined, Cry1Ia11 was converted into a proteolytic product of 70 kDa after 3h of incubation with trypsin, chymotrypsin and P. oleae juice. These results suggest that the in vivo solubilization of Cry1Ia11 was assured by larval proteases after a swelling of the corresponding inclusion due to the alkalinity of the larval midgut., ((c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Photorhabdus temperata strain K122 exhibited oral toxicity against Prays oleae with an LC50 of 58.1 x 10(6) cells ml(-1). Recombinant P. temperata strains expressing the cry1Aa and/or cry1Ia genes of Bacillus thuringiensis have been constructed. The two cry genes, encoding delta-endotoxins, were placed under the control of the lac promoter and IPTG dependent expression in P. temperata was demonstrated. The presence of the cry genes in K122 resulted in a clear improvement of oral toxicity. This improvement was of 6.2-, 6.6-, and 14.6-fold for the strains K122(pBCcry1Aa), K122(pBScry1Ia), and K122(pBCcry1Aa + pBScry1Ia), respectively. Furthermore, determination of the Synergistic Factor between Cry1Aa and Cry1Ia showed that they act synergistically. This work demonstrates that the heterologous expression of B. thuringiensis cry genes in P. temperata can be used to improve and broaden its host range for insect control.