新vip3Aa基因的克隆、表达及其序列分析

克隆了Bt9816C的vip3A基因,并将测序结果提交到GenBank (序列号：AY945939)。该基因是一个新的vip3Aa基因, Bt杀虫晶体蛋白命名委员会将其命名为vip3Aa18。在大肠杆菌BL21中表达了该基因,生物测定结果表明纯化的Vip3Aa18蛋白对棉铃虫和甜菜夜蛾具有很高的杀虫活性。序列分析结果显示Vip3Aa18 C端536至667位氨基酸残基间是一个糖类结合域,推测可能参与Vip3Aa18与敏感昆虫中肠受体结合;N端272至292位氨基酸残基间存在一个跨膜螺旋,可能与Vip3Aa18形成穿孔有关。此外,Vip3Aa18还可能具有一个二硫键。这些特殊区域和位点可能与其功能密切相关。     

新vip3Aa基因的克隆、表达及其序列分析

克隆了Bt9816C的vip3A基因，并将测序结果提交到GenBank (序列号：AY945939)。该基因是一个新的vip3Aa基因, Bt杀虫晶体蛋白命名委员会将其命名为vip3Aa18。在大肠杆菌BL21中表达了该基因，生物测定结果表明纯化的Vip3Aa18蛋白对棉铃虫和甜菜夜蛾具有很高的杀虫活性。序列分析结果显示Vip3Aa18 C端536至667位氨基酸残基间是一个糖类结合域，推测可能参与Vip3Aa18与敏感昆虫中肠受体结合；N端272至292位氨基酸残基间存在一个跨膜螺旋，可能与Vip3Aa18形成穿孔有关。此外，Vip3Aa18还可能具有一个二硫键。这些特殊区域和位点可能与其功能密切相关。     

苏云金芽孢杆菌vip3A基因的鉴定、克隆及活性分析

【目的】鉴定我国自行分离的苏云金芽孢杆菌（Bacillus thuringiensis, Bt）菌株中vip3A基因的分布和基因型,从其中对鳞翅目幼虫表现高毒力的Bt菌株中克隆vip3Aa基因。【方法】利用PCR-RFLP方法确定vip3A基因的分布和鉴定基因型,利用PCR方法克隆vip3A全长基因。【结果】171株野生型Bt菌株中共鉴定出63株含有vip3A基因,均与vip3Aa1类基因相似。从TF9和Bt16菌株中克隆得到2个vip3Aa基因,分别构建了携带vip3Aa基因的表达载体p30vip-26和p30vip-27,SDS-PAGE和Western Blot分析表明,IPTG诱导后均可表达88 kDa左右的Vip3A蛋白,蛋白可溶性分析表明约10%可溶。这两种基因序列已被国际Bt基因命名委员会分别正式命名为vip3Aa26和vip3Aa27。生物测定结果显示,Vip3Aa27蛋白对粉纹夜蛾（Trichoplusia ni）、甜菜夜蛾（Spodoptera exigua）和棉铃虫（Helicoverpa armigera）3种重要鳞翅目害虫初孵幼虫的毒力较高,LC50值分别为0.125 μg/mL,0.238 μg/mL和9.238 μg/mL。而Vip3Aa26蛋白仅对粉纹夜蛾有活性,LC50值为4.423 μg/mL。【结论】本研究中的Vip3Aa27蛋白对粉纹夜蛾、甜菜夜蛾和棉铃虫幼虫均能表现高杀虫活性,而Vip3Aa26蛋白仅对粉纹夜蛾幼虫有活性,实验结果表明Vip3A蛋白个别氨基酸的变化对其杀虫活性影响很大。     

苏云金芽胞杆菌Vip3AaAdAa嵌合蛋白的构建及其杀虫活性分析

Vip3A类杀虫蛋白是一类新型杀虫蛋白,在氨基酸序列上与研究较为深入的Cry蛋白没有同源性,且昆虫受体结合位点与Cry蛋白也没有竞争关系。利用同源重组技术针对对甜菜夜蛾具有高活性的Vip3Aa39与无活性的Vip3Ad开展研究,成功构建了三个vip3AaAdAa型嵌合基因,将其转入大肠杆菌中表达嵌合蛋白Vip3AaAdAa1、Vip3AaAdAa2、Vip3AaAdAa3,并将这三种嵌合蛋白对甜菜夜蛾进行了杀虫活性测定。研究表明,三种嵌合蛋白对甜菜夜蛾具有杀虫活性,Vip3AaAdAa3蛋白的LC_(50)值比Vip3Aa39增加了1.4倍,Vip3AaAdAa1蛋白的LC_(50)值比Vip3Aa39增加了2.7倍,嵌合蛋白Vip3AaAdAa1和Vip3AaAdAa3的杀虫活性均低于Vip3Aa39;Vip3AaAdAa2的杀虫活性与Vip3Aa39差异不显著。     

Bt9816C培养上清中杀虫活性成分的研究*

Bt98 1 6C的培养上清对棉铃虫和甜菜夜蛾具有很高的杀虫活性。热敏实验表明 β -外毒素和ZwittermicinA不是其主要杀虫活性成分。Bt981 6C的无晶体株保留有卵磷酯酶C和溶血素活性 ,但是不再具有vip3A基因 ,其培养上清也丧失了杀虫活性。SDS -PAGE结果显示Bt981 6C培养上清中有Vip3A蛋白特征大小的 89kD的蛋白 ,而其无晶体株正好缺失了该蛋白。以上结果表明Bt981 6C培养上清中主要的杀虫活性成分是Vip3A蛋白。     

苏云金杆菌辅助蛋白P20对营养期杀虫蛋白Vip3A表达的影响

为检测苏云金杆菌辅助蛋白P20对Vip3A表达和杀虫活性的影响,将p20基因与vip3A基因相连构建了重组质粒pHVP20,然后电激转化至Bt中进行了共表达,以仅携带vip3A基因的质粒pHPT3作为对照质粒。Westernblot结果显示,当vip3A基因和p20基因在Bt无晶体缺陷株CryB中共表达时,Vip3A蛋白的最大表达量约是其在CryB(pHPT3)菌株中单独表达的1.5倍。生物测定结果表明,CryB(pHVP20)和CryB(pHPT3)菌株对初孵斜纹夜蛾幼虫的LC50值分别为48.79μg/mL和78.00μg/mL,这说明P20蛋白可以促进vip3A基因在Bt中的表达,但对提高Vip3A蛋白的杀虫毒力没有显著性帮助。     

苏云金芽孢杆菌vip3A基因的检测及保守性分析

Vip3A蛋白是苏云金芽孢杆菌(Bacillus thuringiensis,Bt)在营养期分泌的一类新型杀虫蛋白。用PCR方法从114个Bl菌株和41个Bl标准菌株中筛选到39株即约25％的菌株含有vip3A基因。利用所制备的Vip3A蛋白的多克隆抗体对以上含有vip3A基因的Bt菌株进行Western印迹分析,发现多数PCR反应为阳性的菌株都产生89kD大小的蛋白,其中有4株没有Vip3A蛋白的表达。从以上菌株中挑选2个对夜蛾科害虫具有较高和较低毒力的菌株,即S101和6ll,并分别进行vip3A基因的克隆和测序,再与GenBank上所登录的其它6个全长vip3A基因和2个已报道的但未登录GenBank的vip3A基因进行核苷酸和氨基酸序列比较,结果表明,vip3A是一个极其保守的基因。将以上所克隆的2个却3A基因即vip3A—S101和vip3A-611分别插入表达载体pQE30构建了表达质粒pOTP-S101和pOTP-6ll,转化到大肠杆菌M15,经lmmol／L IPTG诱导后均表达89kD大小的Vip3A蛋白。蛋白可溶性试验表明,Vip3A-S101和Vip3A-611分别有48％和35％的蛋白是可溶的。将Vip3A-S101和Vip3A-6ll蛋白和已报道的Vip3A—S184蛋白对初孵斜纹夜蛾(Spodoptera litura)幼虫进行生物测定,结果表明,3个Vip3A蛋白对斜纹夜蛾幼虫毒力没有显著性差异,这说明了Vip3A个别氨基酸的变化对蛋白的杀虫活性没有影响。     

棉铃虫对不同Bt蛋白的抗性及交互抗性研究

【目的】棉铃虫Helicoverpa armigera(Hübner)对Bt(Bacillus thuringiensis)的抗性问题是阻碍Bt抗虫棉持续发展的关键,探究棉铃虫对不同Bt蛋白的抗性演化趋势及交互抗性,可为选择合适的抗虫棉花备选基因提供参考。【方法】在室内通过连续多代筛选,获得了5个对Bt具有不同抗性的品系,利用饲料混合法测定了这些品系棉铃虫的交互抗性。【结果】经筛选后棉铃虫对Cry1Ac产生了超高水平的抗性、对Cry2Ab、Vip3Aa产生了超低抗性(耐性);Cry1Ac抗性棉铃虫停止筛选而换成Cry2Ab或Vip3Aa继续筛选后,棉铃虫对Cry1Ac抗性水平明显降低,对Cry2Ab或Vip3Aa产生低抗或超低抗性(耐性)。Cry1Ac抗性棉铃虫对Cry1Ab敏感性显著降低,而对Cry2Ab、Cry2Ah及Vip3Aa敏感性变化不显著;Cry2Ab抗性品系棉铃虫对Cry1Ac敏感性显著降低;Vip3Aa抗性品系棉铃虫对Cry1Ac敏感性变化不显著。说明Cry1Ac与Cry1Ab间存在明显交互抗性,与Cry2Ah、Vip3Aa没有交互抗性;而Cry2Ab与Cry1Ac间存在不对称的交互抗性。【结论】在筛选新杀虫基因或叠加基因时,应充分考虑抗性发展及交互抗性问题,Cry2Ah、Vip3Aa是治理Cry1Ac抗性棉铃虫或与Cry1Ac叠加最优的选择。     

苏云金芽孢杆菌新型营养期杀虫蛋白Vip3A研究

营养期杀虫蛋白（Vegetative Insecticidal Protein,Vip）Vip3A是苏云金芽孢杆菌（Bacillus thuringiensis,Bt）在营养生长对数中期分泌产生的一类新型杀虫蛋白。Vip3A广泛存在于Bt中,与晶体杀虫蛋白（Insecticidal Crystal Proteins,ICPs）没有任何同源性,不具有多样性,在遗传上比较保守。其N-端存在一趋化信号传导因子相似序列,C-端存在着纤维素结合结构域。Vip3A蛋白通过诱发细胞凋亡,最终导致细胞死亡,这与Bt δ-内毒素的作用机理完全不同。本文主要对Vip3A杀虫蛋白的发现、特性及作用机理作一简要综述。     

Bt9816C培养上清中杀虫活性成分的研究

Bt9816C的培养上清对棉铃虫和甜菜夜蛾具有很高的杀虫活性。热敏实验表明β-外毒素和Zwittennicin A不是其主要杀虫活性成分。Bt9816C的无晶体株保留有卵磷酯酶C和溶血素活性,但是不再具有vip3A基因,其培养上清也丧失了杀虫活性。SDS-PAGE结果显示Bt9816C培养上清中有vip3A蛋白特征大小的89kD的蛋白,而其无晶体株正好缺失了该蛋白。以上结果表明Bt9816C培养上清中主要的杀虫活性成分是VipaA蛋白。     

Isolation, characterization and expression of a novel vegetative insecticidal protein gene of Bacillus thuringiensis

Twenty-four serovars of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) were screened by polymerase chain reaction to detect the presence of vegetative insecticidal protein gene (vip)-like sequences by using vip3Aa1-specific primers. vip-like gene sequences were identified in eight serovars. These genes were cloned and sequenced. The deduced amino acid sequence of the vip3Aa14 gene from Bacillus thuringiensis tolworthi showed considerable differences as compared to those of Vips reported so far. The vip3Aa14 gene from Bt tolwarthi was expressed in Escherichia coli using expression vector pET29a. The expressed Vip3Aa14 protein was found in cytosolic supernatant as well as pellet fraction, but the protein was more abundant in the cytosolic supernatant fraction. Both full-length and truncated (devoid of signal sequence) Vips were highly toxic to the larvae of Spodoptera litura and Plutella xylostella. Truncation of Vip3Aa14 protein at N-terminus did not affect its insecticidal activity.     

Isolation,cloning, and overexpression of vip3Aa gene isolated from a local Bacillus thuringiensis

Vegetative insecticidal protein (Vip) is a newly discovered family of toxin protein isolated from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). An 88.5-kDa Vip3Aa protein was secreted by a local strain of the bacterium during the vegetative growth phase. The full length of the coding region ‘2.3 kbp’ of the vip3Aa gene was isolated from plasmid DNA, cloned in pGEM-T vector and finally cloned in pQE-30 expression vector. Nucleotide sequence revealed 98% homology with that of the previously isolated genes. Expression of the vip3Aa in Escherichia coli was carried out and the expressed protein was detected in the concentrated supernatant, not in the pellet. This indicated that vip3Aa is secreted into the culture medium. Expressed protein was purified, blotted, and assayed against the cotton leaf worm Spodoptera littoralis. The LC₅₀ was found to be 142.4 µ/mL while the LC₅₀ was 90 ppm for the wild strain. These results suggest the use of either the isolated Bt strains or the expressed vip3Aa in an integrated pest management program against lepidopteran insect pests.     

Identification of vip3A-type genes from Bacillus thuringiensis strains and characterization of a novel vip3A-type gene

AIMS: To search for novel Vip3A proteins for controlling insect pests. METHODS AND RESULTS: A pair of universal primers was designed based on the conserved regions of five vip3A genes. Amplified products were digested with the HindIII and EcoR enzymes so as to confirm different restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns used to identify vip3A-type genes. The vip3A gene types of 606 Bacillus thuringiensis strains were screened and three patterns of RFLP were successfully identified. Two novel vip3A genes were found and one of these, vip3Aa19, was further characterized and its product was confirmed toxic to Spodoptera exigua, Helicoverpa armigera and Plutella xylostella larvae. Partial sequences of another novel vip3A-type gene were obtained that shared 83% homology with that of the vip3Af1 gene. CONCLUSIONS: A polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-RFLP system we developed could be used for identifying novel vip3A-genes from B. thuringiensis strains. A novel Vip3A protein was found to have a broader insecticidal spectrum. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: The reported method is a powerful tool to find novel Vip3A proteins from large-scale B. thuringiensis strains. The novel Vip3A protein may be used to control insect pests or resistant insect pests by constructing genetically engineered strains or transgenic plants.     

Characterization of Chimeric Bacillus thuringiensis Vip3 Toxins

Bacillus thuringiensis vegetative insecticidal proteins (Vip) are potential alternatives for B. thuringiensis endotoxins that are currently utilized in commercial transgenic insect-resistant crops. Screening a large number of B. thuringiensis isolates resulted in the cloning of vip3Ac1. Vip3Ac1 showed high insecticidal activity against the fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda and the cotton bollworm Helicoverpa zea but very low activity against the silkworm Bombyx mori. The host specificity of this Vip3 toxin was altered by sequence swapping with a previously identified toxin, Vip3Aa1. While both Vip3Aa1 and Vip3Ac1 showed no detectable toxicity against the European corn borer Ostrinia nubilalis, the chimeric protein Vip3AcAa, consisting of the N-terminal region of Vip3Ac1 and the C-terminal region of Vip3Aa1, became insecticidal to the European corn borer. In addition, the chimeric Vip3AcAa had increased toxicity to the fall armyworm. Furthermore, both Vip3Ac1 and Vip3AcAa are highly insecticidal to a strain of cabbage looper (Trichoplusia ni) that is highly resistant to the B. thuringiensis endotoxin Cry1Ac, thus experimentally showing for the first time the lack of cross-resistance between B. thuringiensis Cry1A proteins and Vip3A toxins. The results in this study demonstrated that vip3Ac1 and its chimeric vip3 genes can be excellent candidates for engineering a new generation of transgenic plants for insect pest control.     

Vip3A is responsible for the potency of Bacillus thuringiensis 9816C culture supernatant against Helicoverpa armigera and Spodoptera exigua

Culture supernatant of Bacillus thuringiensis 9816C had high toxicity against Helicoverpa armigera and Spodoptera exigua. However, it lost insecticidal activities after being bathed in boiling water for 5 min. Acrystalliferous mutants of Bt9816C (Bt9816C-NP1 and Bt9816C-NP2) cured of its endogenous plasmids no longer possessed vip3A gene and toxicity. The 89 kD protein which existed in Bt9816C supernatant disappeared in the two mutants' supernatant; nevertheless, the two mutants still exhibited hemolytic and phospholipase C activity as Bt9816C did. The vip3A gene of Bt9816C, vip3Aa18, was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21. Bioassay demonstrated that the recombinant E. coli had high toxicity against S. exigua. Taken together, it suggested that Vip3A protein was responsible for the toxicity of Bt9816C culture supernatants.     

Increase of the Bacillus thuringiensis Secreted Toxicity Against Lepidopteron Larvae by Homologous Expression of the vip3LB Gene During Sporulation Stage

The Vegetative insecticidal Vip3A proteins display a wide range of insecticidal spectrum against several agricultural insect pests. The fact that the expression of vip3 genes occurs only during the vegetative growth phase of Bacillus thuringiensis is a limiting factor in term of production level. Therefore, extending the synthesis of the Vip proteins to the sporulation phase is a good alternative to reach high levels of toxin synthesis. In this study, we have demonstrated that the maximal production of the secreted Vip3LB (also called Vip3Aa16) during the growth of the wild-type strain B. thuringiensis BUPM 95 is reached at the end of the vegetative growth phase, and that the protein remains relatively stable in the culture supernatant during the late sporulation stages. The vip3LB gene was cloned and expressed under the control of the sporulation dependant promoters BtI and BtII in B. thuringiensis BUPM 106 (Vip3(-)) and BUPM 95 (Vip3(+)) strains. The examination of the culture supernatants during the sporulation phase evidenced the synthesis of Vip3LB and its toxicity against the second-instars larvae of the Lepidopteron insect Spodoptera littoralis for the recombinant BUPM 106. Moreover, there was an increase of the Vip3LB synthesis level and an enhancement of the oral toxicity for the recombinant BUPM 95 resulting from the expression of the vip3LB gene during both the vegetative and sporulation phases and the relative stability of the Vip3LB protein.     

Characterization of a novel vip3-type gene from Bacillus thuringiensis and evidence of its presence on a large plasmid

A novel vip3-type gene named vip3LB has been isolated from Bacillus thuringiensis strain BUPM95. The corresponding secreted vegetative insecticidal protein was active against the lepidopteran insect Ephestia kuehniella. The vip3LB gene was shown, for the first time, to be carried by the large plasmid containing the cry1Ia genes of B. thuringiensis. The nucleotide sequence predicted a protein of 789 amino acids residues with a calculated molecular mass of 88.5kDa. Both nucleotide and amino acid sequences similarity analysis revealed that vip3LB is a new vip3-type gene, presenting several differences with the other vip3-type genes. Heterologous expression of the vip3LB under the control of the strong promoter P(BAD) was performed in Escherichia coli and the produced protein conferred insecticidal activity against Ephestia kuehniella. This novel vegetative insecticidal protein Vip3LB could be a very useful biological control agent.     

Vegetative insecticidal protein enhancing the toxicity of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp kurstaki against Spodoptera exigua

AIMS: The objective of this work was to enhance the insecticidal activity or widen the pesticidal spectrum of a commercial Bacillus thuringiensis strain YBT1520. METHODS AND RESULTS: A vegetative insecticidal protein gene vip3Aa7, under the control of its native promoter and cry3A promoter, was subcloned into B. thuringiensis acrystalliferous BMB171 to generate BMB8901 and BMBvip respectively. It was found that the amount of Vip3Aa7 protein produced by BMBvip was 3.2-fold more than that produced by BMB8901. Therefore, the vip3Aa7 gene under the control of cry3A promoter was transformed into strain YBT1520. The toxicity of the resulting strain BMB218V against Spodoptera exigua was 10-fold more than that of YBT1520, and that the toxicity of BMB218V against Helicoverpa armigera retained the same level as that of strain YBT1520. CONCLUSIONS: Strain YBT1520 obtained high toxicity against S. exigua after it was transformed and expressed the foreign vip3Aa7 gene. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Commercial B. thuringiensis strain YBT1520 has high toxicity against H. armigera and Plutella xylostella, but almost no activity against S. exigua, which is a major crop pest in China. This work provides a new strategy for widening the activity spectrum of B. thuringiensis against agriculture pests.     

Screening of vip genes from a Spanish Bacillus thuringiensis collection and characterization of two Vip3 proteins highly toxic to five lepidopteran crop pests

A Spanish Bacillus thuringiensis strain collection was screened for the presence of vip genes. One hundred strains from a Canary Island collection were screened for vip1 and vip2 genes and 7% contained potentially novel vip1 and vip2-like genes, as indicated by the low degree of similarity with previously known vip1 and vip2 genes. Four hundred strains from a collection originating from the Spanish mainland were screened for vip3 genes and 14.5% of them contained potentially novel vip3-like genes. Reconstruction of the full-length vip sequences could only be achieved for two vip3 gene variants encoding 789 and 787 amino acid proteins that were designated as Vip3Aa45 and Vip3Ag4, respectively. These proteins showed 82% pairwise identity between them and differed from Vip3Aa1 in the putative signal peptide, two specific proteolytic processing sites and the 66-kDa insecticidal fragment. The purified proteins were tested against nine lepidopteran pest species and displayed toxicity, expressed as mean lethal concentration, for five of them. The two toxins were highly toxic for Lobesia botrana (∼1–2 μg/ml) and Spodoptera littoralis (∼20 ng/cm²), moderately toxic for Spodoptera exigua (∼100–300 ng/cm²), and varied greatly in their toxicity for Mamestra brassicae or Chrysodeixis chalcites, with high toxicity for Vip3Aa45 in M. brassicae (∼40 ng/cm²) and for Vip3Ag4 in C. chalcites (∼45 ng/cm²).