Cloning, functional characterization, and mode of action of a novel insecticidal pore-forming toxin, sphaericolysin, produced by Bacillus sphaericus.

ABSTRACT: An insecticidal protein produced by Bacillus sphaericus A3-2 was purified to elucidate its structure and mode of action. The active principle purified from the culture broth of A3-2 was a protein with a molecular mass of 53 kDa that rapidly intoxicated German cockroaches (Blattela germanica) at a dose of about 100 ng when injected. The insecticidal protein sphaericolysin possessed the undecapeptide motif of cholesterol-dependent cytolysins and had a unique N-terminal sequence. The recombinant protein expressed in Escherichia coli was equally as potent as the native protein. Sphaericolysin-induced hemolysis resulted from the protein's pore-forming action. This activity as well as the insecticidal activity was markedly reduced by a Y159A mutation. Also, coapplication of sphaericolysin with c

SUBMITTER: Nishiwaki H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1907092 | biostudies-literature | 2007 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature