0000000000089188
AUTHOR
Carmen Hernández
Lyophilization of lepidopteran midguts: a preserving method for Bacillus thuringiensis toxin binding studies
Binding assays with brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV) from insect midguts are commonly used in the study of the interactions between Bacillus thuringiensis Cry toxins and their receptors. Collaboration between laboratories often require that frozen insect samples are sent in dry ice. Because of customs restrictions and delays, sample thawing is always a risk and often the biological material becomes ruined during shipping. We have tested lyophilization as an alternative method for preserving insect midguts for binding studies with B. thuringiensis Cry toxins. For this purpose, BBMV were prepared from both frozen and lyophilized midguts from three lepidopteran species: Spodoptera exigua,…
Correlation between serovars of Bacillus thuringiensis and type I beta-exotoxin production.
beta-Exotoxin is a thermostable metabolite produced by some strains of Bacillus thuringiensis. Because of vertebrate toxicity, most commercial preparations of B. thuringiensis are prepared from isolates that do not produce beta-exotoxin. The aim of the present study was to find out the possible relationship between serovars of B. thuringiensis and beta-exotoxin production. A specific HPLC assay for type I beta-exotoxin has been used to detect this exotoxin in supernatants from final whole cultures of 100 strains belonging to four serovars of B. thuringiensis: thuringiensis, kurstaki, aizawai, and morrisoni. For each serovar, 25 strains randomly chosen from two Spanish collections were analy…
Population structure and mitochondrial DNA gene flow in Old World populations of Drosophila subobscura
An extensive survey of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) restriction polymorphism in 156 isofemale lines from 29 different geographic populations of Drosophila subobscura distributed throughout the Old World was carried out. Ten restriction enzymes were used, five of which revealed restriction site polymorphism. Of the 31 restriction sites detected, 13 were found to be polymorphic. Comparisons with the mtDNA map of Drosophila yakuba indicate that the variable sites are mainly concentrated in protein genes, especially those corresponding to the NADH complex. A total of 13 different haplotypes were observed, two of which (haplotypes I and II) are quite frequent and widely distributed throughout the p…
Common receptor for Bacillus thuringiensis toxins Cry1Ac, Cry1Fa, and Cry1Ja in Helicoverpa armigera, Helicoverpa zea and Spodoptera exigua
ABSTRACT Binding studies using 125 I-Cry1Ac and biotinylated Cry1Fa toxins indicate the occurrence of a common receptor for Cry1Ac, Cry1Fa, and Cry1Ja in Helicoverpa armigera , Helicoverpa zea , and Spodoptera exigua . Our results, along with previous binding data and the observed cases of cross-resistance, suggest that this pattern seems to be widespread among lepidopteran species.
Isolation and toxicity of Bacillus thuringiensis from potato-growing areas in Bolivia
Bacillus thuringiensis was isolated from 116 samples collected in high altitude potato-growing areas in Bolivia. In these regions, main potato pests are the potato tuberworm Phthorimaea operculella, and the Andean weevils Premnotrypes latithorax and Rhigopsidius tucumanus. B. thuringiensis was found in 60% of the samples. The main percentage of samples with B. thuringiensis was found in larvae of R. tucumanus (78%). Bioassays were performed with 112 isolates. None resulted toxic to either larvae or adults of the two Andean weevils. However, 18 isolates from this study showed more toxicity against the beet armyworm Spodoptera exigua than the standard strain var. kurstaki isolated from DELFIN…