Gut Microbiota Accelerate the Insecticidal Activity of Plastid-Expressed Bacillus thuringiensis Cry3Bb to a Leaf Beetle, Plagiodera versicolora.

ABSTRACT: Bacillus thuringiensis is widely used as a biopesticide, and its crystal protein expressed in transgenic crops has been successfully used for the management of insect pests. However, whether the midgut microbiota contribute to the Bt insecticidal mechanism remains controversial. We previously demonstrated that transplastomic poplar plants expressing Bt Cry3Bb are highly lethal to willow leaf beetle (Plagiodera versicolora), one of the major pests causing severe damage to Salicaceae plants such as willows and poplars. Here, we demonstrate that feeding poplar leaves expressing Cry3Bb to nonaxenic P. versicolora larvae leads to significantly accelerated mortality, and overgrowth and dysbiosis of the gut microbiota, compared with axenic larvae. Corroborating

SUBMITTER: Lei X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10101071 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature