• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• 제21권9호
• /
• pp.937-946
• /
• 2011

Several isolates of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) were screened for the vegetative insecticidal protein (Vip) effective against sap-sucking insect pests. Screening results were based on $LC_{50}$ values against cotton aphid (Aphis gossypii), one of the dangerous pests of various crop plants including cotton. Among the isolates, the Bt#BREF24 showed promising results, and upon purification the aphidicidal protein was recognized as a binary toxin. One of the components of this binary toxin was identified by peptide sequencing to be a homolog of Vip2A that has been reported previously in other Bacillus spp. Vip2 belongs to the binary toxin group Vip1-Vip2, and is responsible for the enzymatic activity; and Vip1 is the translocation and receptor binding protein. The two genes encoding the corresponding proteins of the binary toxin, designated as vip2Ae and vip1Ae, were cloned from the Bt#BREF24, sequenced, and heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli. Aphid feeding assay with the recombinant proteins confirmed that these proteins are indeed the two components of the binary toxins, and the presence of both partners is essential for the activity. Aphid specificity of the binary toxin was further verified by ligand blotting experiment, which identified an ~50 kDa receptor in the brush border membrane vesicles of the cotton aphids only, but not in the lepidopteran insects. Our finding holds a promise of its use in future as a candidate gene for developing transgenic crop plants tolerant against sap-sucking insect pests.

• BMB Reports
• /
• 제43권1호
• /
• pp.23-28
• /
• 2010

Binary toxin consisting of BinA and BinB from Bacillus sphaericus is toxic to mosquito larvae. BinB is responsible for specific binding to the larval gut cell membrane while BinA is crucial for toxicity. To investigate functional role of cysteine in BinB, three cysteine residues at positions 67, 161, and 241 were replaced by alanine or serine. Mutations at these positions did not affect protein production and overall structure of BinB. These cysteine residues are not involved in disulfide bond formation between BinB molecules. Mosquito-larvicidal assays revealed that C67 and C161 are essential for toxicity, whereas C241 is not. Mutations at C67 and C161 resulted in weaker BinA-BinB interaction. The loss of toxicity may be due to the reduction of interactions between BinA and BinB or BinB and its receptor. C67 and C161 could also play a part during conformational changes or internalization of the binary toxin into the target cell.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
• /
• 제2권2호
• /
• pp.185-189
• /
• 2001

Wild type Bacilus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis and B. sphaericus toxins have been used separately as active in ingredients for bacterial insecticides to control mosquito larvae due to their comparable toxicity to chemical insecticides. Cry11B, recently cloned from B. thuringiensis subsp. jegathesan, shows higher toxicity against three major species of mosquito larvae than Cry11A, one of the major component of B. thuringiensis subsp. israelensis inclusion body. To determine whether the combination of cry11B and B. sphaericus binary toxins is as toxic as B. thuringiensis subsp. israelensis parental strain, cry11B and B. sphaericus binary toxins genes were co-expressed as an operon using cytlA promoters/STAB-SD hybrid expression system in B. thuringiensis subsp. israelensis acrystalliferous strain 4Q7. However, unexpectedly, B. sphaericus binary toxins were barely produced, whereas relatively large amount of Cry11B was produced. When this strain was grown in four different media, NB+G and Peptonized Milk produced more toxin proteins and spores per unit of media than GYS and G-Tris. Toxicity of this strain against fourth instar Culex quinquefasciatus was ranged from of 8.3 to 45.7 ng/ml, with NB+G culture being the highest, and GYS culture was the lowest.

• BMB Reports
• /
• 제44권10호
• /
• pp.674-679
• /
• 2011

Bacillus sphaericus produces mosquito-larvicidal binary toxin composed of BinA and BinB. While BinB is expected to bind to a specific receptor on the cell membrane, BinA interacts to BinB or BinB receptor complex and translocates into the cytosol to exert its activity via unknown mechanism. To investigate functional roles of aromatic cluster in BinA, amino acids at positions Y213, Y214, Y215, W222 and W226 were substituted by leucine. All mutant proteins were highly produced and their secondary structures were not affected by these substitutions. All mutants are able to insert into lipid monolayers as observed by Langmuir-Blodgett trough and could permeabilize the liposomes in a similar manner as the wild type. However, mosquito-larvicidal activity was abolished for W222L and W226L mutants suggesting that tryptophan residues at both positions play an important role in the toxicity of BinA, possibly involved in the cytopathological process after toxin entry into the cells.

• 한국미생물·생명공학회지
• /
• 제38권2호
• /
• pp.117-123
• /
• 2010

BT toxin is produced by a soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis and has long been used as a biological insecticide without any competition. Recently, Photorhabdus, a symbiotic bacterium from entomopathogenic nematodes, family Heterorhabditae, has been researched and discussed as alternatives to B. thuringiensis. Photorhabdus, which lives in the gut of entomopathogenic nematodes, is a highly virulent pathogen of a wide range of insect larvae. When an insect is infected by the nematodes, the bacteria are released into the cadaver, and produce a number of insecticidal toxins. The biological role of the different Photorhabdus toxins in the infection process is still unclear. Photorhabdus toxin complex (Tc) is highly secreted gut-active toxin and has been characterized as a potent three-component (A, B and C) insecticidal protein complex. These components are necessary for full oral activity against insect larvae. The Photorhabdus PirAB binary toxins exhibit a potent injectable activity for Galleria mellonella larvae, and have oral toxicity against mosquitoes and caterpillar pest Plutella xylostella. Other toxin, 'makes caterpillars floppy' (Mcf) showed injectable activity on caterpillars. Recombinant Mcf triggers apoptosis in both insect hemocytes and the midgut epithelium and carries a BH3 domain. In this review, the relationship between the Photorhabdus and the nematode is discussed and recent important insecticidal toxins from Photorhabdus are described.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
• /
• 제6권1호
• /
• pp.21-24
• /
• 2004

A modified $\delta$-endotoxin gene of Bacillus thuringiensis ssp. tenebrionis (B.t.t.), encoding a coleoptera-specific toxin, was utilized to transform citrus plants, Citrus reticulata Blanco 'Ponkan' mandarian. By co-culturing the nucelli with Agrobacterium tumefaciens harboring the modified gene in the binary vector pBinAR-Btt, the chimeric toxin gene was transferred into citrus plants. The transgenic plants were selected on modified Murashige and Skoog medium containing kanamycin. Hybridization experiments demonstrated that the transgenic plants contained and expressed the toxin protein gene.

• 원예과학기술지
• /
• 제17권4호
• /
• pp.473-475
• /
• 1999

본 연구는 antisense 유전자를 이용하여 웅성불임 식물체를 유기하는 웅성불임 유기 유전자의 발현을 억제함으로써 임성을 회복하기 위하여 실시하였다. 약특이 promoter(GBAN215-6 promoter)와 antisense 방향의 diphtheria toxin(DTx-A) 유전자로 제작된 pKDA215b로 담배(cv. petit Havana SR1)를 형질전환시키고 형질전환이 확인된 76개의 $R_0$ 세대를 자가수분하여 $R_1$ 세대를 획득하였다. $R_1$ 세대의 유전 분석후 antisene 유전자가 복수로 존재하는 5개의 $R_1$ 계통 (21505, 21507, 21511, 21522, 21525)을 선발하고 동형접합체를 획득하기 위해 자가수분을 하였다. 임성회복을 유도하고 회복친을 선발하기 위하여 antisense 유전자를 가진 $R_2$ 계통과 웅성불임 식물체를 교배하였다. 그 결과 꽃가루가 완전이 회복된 개체, 부분적으로 회복된 개체, 회복되지 않은 개체 등 3종류의 식물체를 획득하였으며 이들 식물체의 화분 이외의 표현형은 정상식물체와 같았고 그 기작 구명을 위해 선발하고 계속 연구가 진행되고 있다.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
• /
• 제37권3호
• /
• pp.313-318
• /
• 2010

돼지 흉막폐렴백신을 개발하기 위해 옥수수 HiII genotype 으로부터 유도한 type II형의 배발생캘러스를 식물발현벡터 pMYV611, pMYV613, pMYV616, V621, V622 및 V623로 형질전환시킨 Agrobacterium (C58C1)과 공동배양 하였다. 이들 식물발현벡터는 paromomycin 항생제 저항 유전자인 NPTII 선발마커와 표적 유전자로서 흉막폐렴균의 여러 가지 혈청을 생산하는 apxIIA유전자로 재조합하여 구축하였다. 식물발현벡터pMYV611, pMYV613, pMYV616, V621, V622 및V623의 경우 각각 4,120개, 5,959개, 7,581개, 52,329개, 48,948개 및 56,188개의 캘러스 클론을 Agrobacterium과 공동한 후 NPTII assay kit에 의해 nptII유전자의 발현빈도를 조사한 결과 각 벡터별로 2.3-4.4%의 캘러스 클론에서 항체결합 양성반응을 보였고, 이들 중 최종적으로 선발된 형질전환 캘러스 클론은 pMYV611에서 3개 (0.07%), pMYV613에서 4개 (0.07%), pMYV616에서 2개 (0.02%), V621에서 51개 (0.1%), V622에서 72개 (0.15%) 및 V623에서 102개 (0.18%)를 각각 얻었다. 형질전환된 캘러스 클론으로부터 재분화된 식물체에서 유전자 도입여부를 Southern 분석으로 통해 확인한 결과 pMYV613에서 2개 식물체 및 V623에서 얻은 2개 식물체에서 각각 확인되었다.