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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2002, p. 3943-3947, Vol. 68, No. 8
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.8.3943-3947.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Endotoxin Activity of Moraxella osloensis against the Grey Garden Slug, Deroceras reticulatum

Li Tan^* and Parwinder S. Grewal

Department of Entomology, Ohio State University, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Wooster, Ohio 44691

Received 11 February 2002/ Accepted 8 May 2002

Moraxella osloensis is a gram-negative bacterium associated with Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita, a slug-parasitic nematode that has prospects for biological control of mollusk pests, especially the grey garden slug, Deroceras reticulatum. This bacterium-feeding nematode acts as a vector that transports M. osloensis into the shell cavity of the slug, and the bacterium is the killing agent in the nematode-bacterium complex. We discovered that M. osloensis produces an endotoxin(s), which is tolerant to heat and protease treatments and kills the slug after injection into the shell cavity. Washed or broken cells treated with penicillin and streptomycin from 3-day M. osloensis cultures were more pathogenic than similar cells from 2-day M. osloensis cultures. However, heat and protease treatments and 2 days of storage at 22°C increased the endotoxin activity of the young broken cells but not the endotoxin activity of the young washed cells treated with the antibiotics. This suggests that there may be a proteinaceous substance(s) that is structurally associated with the endotoxin(s) and masks its toxicity in the young bacterial cells. Moreover, 2 days of storage of the young washed bacterial cells at 22°C enhanced their endotoxin activity if they were not treated with the antibiotics. Furthermore, purified lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from the 3-day M. osloensis cultures was toxic to slugs, with an estimated 50% lethal dose of 48 µg per slug, thus demonstrating that the LPS of M. osloensis is an endotoxin that is active against D. reticulatum. This appears to be the first report of a biological toxin that is active against mollusks.

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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Entomology, Ohio State University, OARDC, Wooster, OH 44691. Phone: (330) 202-3524. Fax: (330) 263-3686. E-mail: tan.100{at}osu.edu.

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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2002, p. 3943-3947, Vol. 68, No. 8
0099-2240/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.68.8.3943-3947.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

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