Search results for "Hemolysin"

Insecticidal Activity of Bacillus thuringiensis Proteins against Coleopteran Pests

2020

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…

Constitutive Activation of the Midgut Response to Bacillus thuringiensis in Bt-Resistant Spodoptera exigua

2010

Bacillus thuringiensis is the most effective microbial control agent for controlling numerous species from different insect orders. The main threat for the long term use of B. thuringiensis in pest control is the ability of insects to develop resistance. Thus, the identification of insect genes involved in conferring resistance is of paramount importance. A colony of Spodoptera exigua (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) was selected for 15 years in the laboratory for resistance to Xentari (TM), a B. thuringiensis-based insecticide, reaching a final resistance level of greater than 1,000-fold. Around 600 midgut ESTs were analyzed by DNA-macroarray in order to find differences in midgut gene expression …

Effects of Bacillus thuringiensis δ-Endotoxins on the Pea Aphid ( Acyrthosiphon pisum )

2009

ABSTRACT Four Bacillus thuringiensis δ-endotoxins, Cry3A, Cry4Aa, Cry11Aa, and Cyt1Aa, were found to exhibit low to moderate toxicity on the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum , in terms both of mortality and growth rate. Cry1Ab was essentially nontoxic except at high rates. To demonstrate these effects, we had to use exhaustive buffer-based controls.

Evidence of cytotoxic activity against mammalian red blood cell of Na+ channel neurotoxin (Ae1) from sea anemone (Actinia equina)

2016

The diversification of anthozoan toxins played an important role in the ability to colonize various ecological niches. In this study we evaluated the hemolytic activity of HPLC separated fraction of tentacle extracts of sea anemone Actinia equina. Toxic components from acid tissue tentacle extracts were investigated by size exclusion and reverse phase HPLC to characterize cytolytic molecules. A novel low molecular weight active fraction was sequenced by MALDI TOF analysis and a protein correspondent to 5.4 kDa Sodium channel neurotoxin (Ae1) from A. equina was identified. Synthetic Ae1 was assayed and it showed an hemolytic activity against mammalian erythrocytes in a dose dependent manner.…

Chromosome-Encoded Hemolysin, Phospholipase, and Collagenase in Plasmidless Isolates of Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae Contribute to Virulen…

2017

ABSTRACT Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae is a pathogen of marine animals, including fish of importance in aquaculture. The virulence plasmid pPHDD1, characteristic of highly hemolytic isolates, encodes the hemolysins damselysin (Dly) and phobalysin (PhlyP). Strains lacking pPHDD1 constitute the vast majority of the isolates from fish outbreaks, but genetic studies to identify virulence factors in plasmidless strains are scarce. Here, we show that the chromosome I-encoded hemolysin PhlyC plays roles in virulence and cell toxicity in pPHDD1-negative isolates of this pathogen. By combining the analyses of whole genomes and of gene deletion mutants, we identified two hitherto uncharacte…

Staphylococcus aureus α-toxin: small pore, large consequences

2018

Abstract The small β-pore-forming α-toxin, also termed α-hemolysin or Hla is considered to be an important virulence factor of Staphylococcus aureus. Perforation of the plasma membrane (PM) by Hla leads to uncontrolled flux of ions and water. Already a small number of toxin pores seems to be sufficient to induce complex cellular responses, many of which depend on the efflux of potassium. In this article, we discuss the implications of secondary membrane lesions, for example, by endogenous channels, for Hla-mediated toxicity, for calcium-influx and membrane repair. Activation of purinergic receptors has been proposed to be a major contributor to the lytic effects of various pore forming prot…

Hetero-oligomerization of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1A proteins enhance binding to the ABCC2 transporter of Spodoptera exigua

2021

The ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporters are membrane proteins that can act as putative receptors for Cry proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) in the midgut of different insects. For the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua, ABCC2 and ABCC3 have been found to interact with Cry1A proteins, the main insecticidal proteins used in Bt crops, as well as Bt-based pesticides. The ABCC2 has shown to have specific binding towards Cry1Ac and is involved in the toxic process of Cry1A proteins, but the role of this transporter and how it relates with the Cry1A proteins is still unknown. Here, we have characterized the interactions between the SeABCC2 and the main proteins that bind to the receptor. …

Enterocyte Purge and Rapid Recovery Is a Resilience Reaction of the Gut Epithelium to Pore-Forming Toxin Attack.

2016

International audience; Besides digesting nutrients, the gut protects the host against invasion by pathogens. Enterocytes may be subjected to damage by both microbial and host defensive responses, causing their death. Here, we report a rapid epithelial response that alleviates infection stress and protects the enterocytes from the action of microbial virulence factors. Intestinal epithelia exposed to hemolysin, a pore-forming toxin secreted by Serratia marcescens, undergo an evolutionarily conserved process of thinning followed by the recovery of their initial thickness within a few hours. In response to hemolysin attack, Drosophila melanogaster enterocytes extrude most of their apical cyto…

2017

The pore forming hemolysin A, Hla, is a major virulence factor of Staphylococcus aureus. Apparently, 1-2 pore(s) per cell suffice(s) to cause cell death. Accumulated experimental evidence points towards a major role of ATP-gated purinergic receptors (P2XR) for hemolysis caused by Hla, complement and other pore forming proteins, presumably by increasing membrane permeability. Indeed, in experiments employing rabbit erythrocytes, inhibitory concentrations of frequently employed P2XR-antagonists were in a similar range as previously reported for erythrocytes of other species and other toxins. However, Hla-dependent hemolysis was not enhanced by extracellular ATP, and oxidized adenosinetriphosp…

Editorial for Special Issue: The Insecticidal Bacterial Toxins in Modern Agriculture.

2017

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