Open Access
Insecticidal activity of bacillus thuringiensis proteins against coleopteran pests
(MDPI, 2020) Domínguez Arrizabalaga, Mikel; Villanueva San Martín, Maite; Escriche, Baltasar; Ancín Azpilicueta, Carmen; Caballero Murillo, Primitivo; Zientziak; Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Applied Biology - IMAB; Ciencias
Bacillus thuringiensis is the most successful microbial insecticide agent and its proteins have been studied for many years due to its toxicity against insects mainly belonging to the orders Lepidoptera, Diptera and Coleoptera, which are pests of agro-forestry and medical-veterinary interest. However, studies on the interactions between this bacterium and the insect species classified in the order Coleoptera are more limited when compared to other insect orders. To date, 45 Cry proteins, 2 Cyt proteins, 11 Vip proteins, and 2 Sip proteins have been reported with activity against coleopteran species. A number of these proteins have been successfully used in some insecticidal formulations and in the construction of transgenic crops to provide protection against main beetle pests. In this review, we provide an update on the activity of Bt toxins against coleopteran insects, as well as specific information about the structure and mode of action of coleopteran Bt proteins.
Open Access
A strain of Bacillus thuringiensis containing a novel cry7Aa2 gene that is toxic to Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say) (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)
(MDPI, 2019) Domínguez Arrizabalaga, Mikel; Villanueva San Martín, Maite; Fernández González, Ana Beatriz; Caballero Murillo, Primitivo; Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Applied Biology - IMAB; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua
The genome of the Bacillus thuringiensis BM311.1 strain was sequenced and assembled in 359 contigs containing a total of 6,390,221 bp. The plasmidic ORF of a putative cry gene from this strain was identified as a potential novel Cry protein of 1138 amino acid residues with a 98% identity compared to Cry7Aa1 and a predicted molecular mass of 129.4 kDa. The primary structure of Cry7Aa2, which had eight conserved blocks and the classical structure of three domains, differed in 28 amino acid residues from that of Cry7Aa1. The cry7Aa2 gene was amplified by PCR and then expressed in the acrystalliferous strain BMB171. SDS-PAGE analysis confirmed the predicted molecular mass for the Cry7Aa2 protein and revealed that after in vitro trypsin incubation, the protein was degraded to a toxin of 62 kDa. However, when treated with digestive fluids from Leptinotarsa decemlineata larvae, one major proteinase-resistant fragment of slightly smaller size was produced. The spore and crystal mixture produced by the wild-type BM311.1 strain against L. decemlineata neonate larvae resulted in a LC50 value of 18.8 mu g/mL, which was statistically similar to the estimated LC50 of 20.8 mu g/mL for the recombinant BMB17-Cry7Aa2 strain. In addition, when this novel toxin was activated in vitro with commercial trypsin, the LC50 value was reduced 3.8-fold to LC50 = 4.9 mu g/mL. The potential advantages of Cry7Aa2 protoxin compared to Cry7Aa1 protoxin when used in the control of insect pests are discussed.
Open Access
Study of the bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ia protein oligomerization promoted by midgut brush border membrane vesicles of lepidopteran and coleopteran insects, or cultured insect cells
(MDPI, 2020) Khorramnejad, Ayda; Domínguez Arrizabalaga, Mikel; Caballero Murillo, Primitivo; Escriche, Baltasar; Bel, Yolanda; Agronomía, Biotecnología y Alimentación; Agronomia, Bioteknologia eta Elikadura; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) produces insecticidal proteins that are either secreted during the vegetative growth phase or accumulated in the crystal inclusions (Cry proteins) in the stationary phase. Cry1I proteins share the three domain (3D) structure typical of crystal proteins but are secreted to the media early in the stationary growth phase. In the generally accepted mode of action of 3D Cry proteins (sequential binding model), the formation of an oligomer (tetramer) has been described as a major step, necessary for pore formation and subsequent toxicity. To know if this could be extended to Cry1I proteins, the formation of Cry1Ia oligomers was studied by Western blot, after the incubation of trypsin activated Cry1Ia with insect brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV) or insect cultured cells, using Cry1Ab as control. Our results showed that Cry1Ia oligomers were observed only after incubation with susceptible coleopteran BBMV, but not following incubation with susceptible lepidopteran BBMV or non-susceptible Sf21 insect cells, while Cry1Ab oligomers were persistently detected after incubation with all insect tissues tested, regardless of its host susceptibility. The data suggested oligomerization may not necessarily be a requirement for the toxicity of Cry1I proteins.
Open Access
Novel Bacillus thuringiensis cry genes and their insecticidal potency against Coleoptera
(2020) Domínguez Arrizabalaga, Mikel; Caballero Murillo, Primitivo; Villanueva San Martín, Maite; Agronomía, Biotecnología y Alimentación; Agronomia, Bioteknologia eta Elikadura; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) se distingue de otras bacterias del género Bacillus por su capacidad de sintetizar d-endotoxinas (Cry y Cyt) que característicamente se agregan formando uno o más cristales paraesporales. Todas estas proteínas han sido clasificadas en distintas familias las cuales tienen actividad contra insectos de distintos órdenes, incluido el orden Coleoptera. En esta tesis doctoral se ha realizado una revisión actualizada de todas las proteínas insecticidas, que produce Bt, para las cuales se ha descrito actividad contra especies del orden Coleoptera. El objetivo de la tesis ha sido realizar una búsqueda de nuevos genes cry con la finalidad de aumentar la batería de toxinas Bt disponibles para el control de las plagas causadas por coleópteros. Dicha búsqueda se ha centrado en dos cepas Bt, seleccionadas en un screening previo, para lo cual se abordó la secuenciación masiva del DNA genómico de cada una de ellas. El contenido génico de la cepa BM311.1 reveló la presencia un gen nuevo cry7 que codificaba para una proteína que se denominó Cry7Aa2 por compartir una identidad del 98% con la proteína Cry7Aa1 previamente descrita. A pesar de esta elevada identidad, estas dos proteínas mostraron diferencias en su actividad contra larvas de Leptinotarsa decemlineata. Mientras que la proteína Cry7Aa1 solo es tóxica cuando el cristal ha sido previamente solubilizado in vitro, la proteína Cry7Aa2 es tóxica directamente tras ser ingerida en forma de cristal. Esto representa una clara ventaja práctica de Cry7Aa2, con vistas a su utilización como bioinsecticida, mientras que ambas son igualmente útiles para la obtención de plantas transgénicas resistentes frente a L. decemlineata. Los resultados de este trabajo son científicamente relevantes y pueden ser utilizados para el diseño de nuevas estrategias para el control de plagas de insectos, ya sea creando nuevos bioinsecticidas o construyendo nuevas plantas transgénicas.

Domínguez Arrizabalaga, Mikel

Email Address

person.page.identifierURI

Birth Date

Job Title

Last Name

First Name

person.page.departamento

person.page.instituteName

ORCID

person.page.observainves

person.page.upna

Name

Filters

Author

Subject

Date

Has files

Item Type

Type

Settings

Sort By

Results per page

Search Results