This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplemental material
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Brown, S. E.
Right arrow Articles by East, P. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Brown, S. E.
Right arrow Articles by East, P. D.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Brown, S. E.
Right arrow Articles by East, P. D.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2006, p. 1653-1662, Vol. 72, No. 2
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.72.2.1653-1662.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Txp40, a Ubiquitous Insecticidal Toxin Protein from Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus Bacteria{dagger}

S. E. Brown,* A. T. Cao, P. Dobson, E. R. Hines, R. J. Akhurst, and P. D. East

CSIRO Entomology, GPO Box 1700, Acton, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia

Received 4 August 2005/ Accepted 28 October 2005

Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus are gram-negative bacteria that produce a range of proteins that are toxic to insects. We recently identified a novel 42-kDa protein from Xenorhabdus nematophila that was lethal to the larvae of insects such as Galleria mellonella and Helicoverpa armigera when it was injected at doses of 30 to 40 ng/g larvae. In the present work, the toxin gene txp40 was identified in another 59 strains of Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus, indicating that it is both highly conserved and widespread among these bacteria. Recombinant toxin protein was shown to be active against a variety of insect species by direct injection into the larvae of the lepidopteran species G. mellonella, H. armigera, and Plodia interpunctella and the dipteran species Lucilia cuprina. The protein exhibited significant cytotoxicity against two dipteran cell lines and two lepidopteran cell lines but not against a mammalian cell line. Histological data from H. armigera larvae into which the toxin was injected suggested that the primary site of action of the toxin is the midgut, although some damage to the fat body was also observed.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: CSIRO Entomology, GPO Box 1700, Acton, ACT 2601, Australia. Phone: 61 2 6246 4053. Fax: 61 2 6246 4173. E-mail: sue.brown{at}csiro.au.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://aem.asm.org/.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2006, p. 1653-1662, Vol. 72, No. 2
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.72.2.1653-1662.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Herbert Tran, E. E., Goodrich-Blair, H. (2009). CpxRA Contributes to Xenorhabdus nematophila Virulence through Regulation of lrhA and Modulation of Insect Immunity. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 3998-4006 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Eleftherianos, I., Boundy, S., Joyce, S. A., Aslam, S., Marshall, J. W., Cox, R. J., Simpson, T. J., Clarke, D. J., ffrench-Constant, R. H., Reynolds, S. E. (2007). An antibiotic produced by an insect-pathogenic bacterium suppresses host defenses through phenoloxidase inhibition. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104: 2419-2424 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»