Enduring toxicity of transgenic Anabaena PCC 7120 expressing mosquito larvicidal genes from Bacillus thuringiensis ssp. israelensis

Persistence of biological control agents against mosquito larvae was tested under simulated field conditions. Mosquito larvicidal activity of transgenic Anabaena PCC 7120 expressing cry4Aa, cry11Aa and p20 from Bacillus thuringiensis ssp. israelensis was greater than B. thuringiensis ssp. israelensis primary powder (fun 89C06D) or wettable powder (WP) (Bactimos products) when either mixed with silt or exposed to sunlight outdoors. Reduction of Bactimos primary powder toxicity was at least 10-fold higher than Anabaena's after mixing with silt. In outdoors experiments, Bactimos WP remained toxic (over 30% mortality of 3rd instar Aedes aegypti larvae) for 2-4 days only, while transgenic Anabaena's toxicity endured 8-21 days.     

Mosquito larvicidal activity of transgenic Anabaena strain PCC 7120 expressing combinations of genes from Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis.

Various combinations of the genes cryIVA (cry4A), cryIVD (cry11A), and p20 from Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis were introduced into the nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 by means of Escherichia coli-Anabaena shuttle vector pRL488p and were expressed under control of two tandem strong promoters, a cyanobacterial promoter (PpsbA) and an E. coli T7 promoter (PA1). Two of the clones carrying cryIVA plus cryIVD, one with p20 and one without p20, displayed toxicity against third-instar larvae of Aedes aegypti at levels greater than any level previously reported for transgenic cyanobacteria.     

Mosquito larvicidal activity of transgenic Anabaena PCC 7120 expressing toxin genes from Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis

Genes encoding the mosquito larvicidal toxins Cry4Aa, Cry11Aa, Cyt1Aa and the regulatory P20 from Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis were introduced into the nitrogen-fixing, filamentous cyanobacterium Anabaena PCC 7120 for expression under control of two strong promoters P(psbA) and P(A1). The clone pRVE4-ADRC displayed toxicity against fourth-instar larvae of Aedes aegypti, the highest ever achieved in cyanobacteria. It was about 2.5-fold more toxic than the respective clone without cyt1Aa [Wu et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 63 (1997) 4971-4975]. Cyt1Aa synergized the combination of Crys by about five-fold. Consistently, the lethal times exerted by pRVE4-ADRC were also reduced (it killed exposed larvae more quickly). This clone may become a useful biological control agent which reduces the probability of resistance development in the target organisms [Wirth et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94 (1997) 10536-10540].     

Use of a conditionally lethal gene in Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 to select for double recombinants and to entrap insertion sequences.

Use of the sacB gene (J. L. Ried and A. Collmer, Gene 57:239-246, 1987) provides a simple, effective, positive selection for double recombinants in Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120, a filamentous cyanobacterium. This gene, which encodes the secretory levansucrase of Bacillus subtilis, was inserted into the vector portion of a suicide plasmid bearing a mutant version of a chromosomal gene. Cells of colonies in which such a plasmid had integrated into the Anabaena chromosome through single recombination were plated on solid medium containing 5% sucrose. Under this condition, the presence of the sacB gene is lethal. A small fraction of the cells from initially sucrose-sensitive colonies became sucrose resistant; the majority of these sucrose-resistant derivatives had undergone a second recombinational event in which the sacB-containing vector had been lost and the wild-type form of the chromosomal gene had been replaced by the mutant form. By the use of this technique, we mutated two selected genes in the chromosome of Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120. The conditionally lethal nature of the sacB gene was also used to detect insertion sequences from this Anabaena strain. Sucrose-resistant colonies derived from cells bearing a sacB-containing autonomously replicating plasmid were analyzed. Five different, presumed insertion sequences were found to have inserted into the sacB gene of the plasmids in these colonies. One of them, denoted IS892, was characterized by physical mapping. It is 1.7 kilobases in size and is present in at least five copies in the genome of Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120.     

Characterization of Escherichia coli-Anabaena sp. hybrid thioredoxins

Thioredoxin is a small redox protein with an active-site disulfide/dithiol. The protein from Escherichia coli has been well characterized. The genes encoding thioredoxin in E. coli and in the filamentous cyanobacterium Anabaena PCC 7119 have been cloned and sequenced. Anabaena thioredoxin exhibits 50% amino acid identity with the E. coli protein and interacts with E. coli enzymes. The genes encoding Anabaena and E. coli thioredoxin were fused via a common restriction site in the nucleotide sequence coding for the active site of the proteins to generate hybrid genes, coding for two chimeric thioredoxins. These proteins are designated Anabaena-E. coli (A-E) thioredoxin for the construct with the Anabaena sequence from the N-terminus to the middle of the active site and the E. coli sequence to the C-terminus, and E. coli-Anabaena (E-A) for the opposite construct. The gene encoding the A-E thioredoxin complements all phenotypes of an E. coli thioredoxin-deficient strain, whereas the gene encoding E-A thioredoxin is only partially effective. Purified E-A thioredoxin exhibits a much lower catalytic efficiency with E. coli thioredoxin reductase and ribonucleotide reductase than either E. coli or Anabaena thioredoxin. In contrast, the A-E thioredoxin has a higher catalytic efficiency in these reactions than either parental protein. Reaction with antibodies to E. coli and Anabaena thioredoxins shows that the antigenic determinants for thioredoxin are located in the C-terminal part of the molecule and retain the native conformation in the hybrid proteins.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Nitrogen status dependent oxidative stress tolerance conferred by overexpression of MnSOD and FeSOD proteins in Anabaena sp. strain PCC7120

The heterocystous nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium, Anabaena sp. strain PCC7120 displayed two superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities, namely FeSOD and MnSOD. Prolonged exposure of Anabaena PCC7120 cells to methyl viologen mediated oxidative stress resulted in loss of both SOD activities and induced cell lysis. The two SOD proteins were individually overexpressed constitutively in Anabaena PCC7120, by genetic manipulation. Under nitrogen-fixing conditions, overexpression of MnSOD (sodA) enhanced oxidative stress tolerance, while FeSOD (sodB) overexpression was detrimental. Under nitrogen supplemented conditions, overexpression of either SOD protein, especially FeSOD, conferred significant tolerance against oxidative stress. The results demonstrate a nitrogen status-dependent protective role of individual superoxide dismutases in Anabaena PCC7120 during oxidative stress.     

几种杀虫剂对南美斑潜蝇及其寄生蜂潜蝇茧蜂的毒力

测定了阿维菌素、灭蝇胺、杀虫单、毒死蜱、灭多威、顺式氯氰菊酯6种杀虫剂对南美斑潜蝇2龄幼虫、成虫及其寄生蜂潜蝇茧蜂的室内毒力,并考察了灭蝇胺、阿维菌素和杀虫单对南美斑潜蝇的田间防效。在所研究浓度下,阿维菌素、灭蝇胺对2龄幼虫的毒力较高,但对南美斑潜蝇成虫和潜蝇茧蜂的毒力较低;杀虫单对南美斑潜蝇成虫、2龄幼虫和潜蝇茧蜂的毒力均较高;毒死蜱、灭多威、顺式氯氰菊酯对南美斑潜蝇2龄幼虫的毒力较低,而对潜蝇茧蜂的毒力较高。田间条件下,灭蝇胺、阿维菌素和杀虫单都对田间南美斑潜蝇具有较高防效。     

致乏库蚊幼虫摄食和消化鱼腥藻的观察(英文)

在实验室条件下,致乏库蚊幼虫可大量摄食鱼腥藻,并能消化利用,完成生活史。鱼腥藻在蚊幼虫肠道中滞 留时间约6h,酵母约5h,鱼腥藻比酵母稍难消化。蚊幼虫至化蛹时期相比,饲喂鱼腥藻为194h,而饲喂酵母的为 142h,饲喂鱼腥藻比饲喂酵母延缓了蚊幼虫期52h。       

Cloning and Characterization of the Crystal Protein-Encoding Gene of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. yunnanensis

Molecular cloning and characterization of a novel cry gene, cry32Aa, of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. yunnanensis was carried out. The Cry32Aa protein was predicted to have a molecular mass of 139.2 kDa and was found to have an unusual 42-amino-acid-long tail at the C terminus. The cry32Aa gene was localized on the 103-MDa plasmid of the organism. Bioassays showed no toxicity against several moths and mosquitoes. However, it exhibited weak toxicity against larvae of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella.     

Gene knockout demonstrates that vip3A contributes to the pathogenesis of Bacillus thuringiensis toward Agrotis ipsilon and Spodoptera exigua

Vip3A is an 89-kDa protein secreted by Bacillus thuringiensis during vegetative growth. To determine the importance of Vip3A for the insect pathogenicity of B. thuringiensis the vip3A gene was deleted from strain HD1, yielding strain HD1Deltavip3A. Compared with HD1, strain HD1Deltavip3A was one-fourth as toxic to Agrotis ipsilon larvae and less than one-tenth as toxic to Spodoptera exigua larvae. When streptomycin was included in the S. exigua diet the toxicity of HD1Deltavip3A was approximately half that of HD1. Addition of HD1 spores increased the toxicity of purified Cry1 protein more than 600-fold against S. exigua, whereas addition of HD1Deltavip3A spores increased toxicity of Cry1 protein approximately 10-fold. These results demonstrate that an important component of B. thuringiensis insecticidal activity against S. exigua is the synthesis of Vip3A protein by B. thuringiensis cells after ingestion of spores and crystal proteins by insect larvae.     

A Zoogloea sp. associated with blooms of Anabaena flos-aquae.

Bacteria were found attached to the heterocysts of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae and embedded within the mucilage of both anabaena flos-aquae and Microcystis aeruginosa in freshwater plankton. Electron microscopy of thin sections preceding the peak of an Anabaena flos-aquae bloom showed that the density of bacterial cells was 7.4 X 10(5) cells/ml in the planktonic macroenvironment and 2.6 X 10(11) cells/ml within the microenvironment of cyanobacterial mucilage. The bacteria occurred in aggregates and isolation required that these be dispersed by homogenizing at 50 000 rpm with glass beads. This procedure yielded a single bacterial isolate from blooms of Anabaena flos-aquae during 2 consecutive years. The isolate was flagellated, catalase- and oxidase-positive. Gram-negative, and rod-shaped to pleomorphic. Observation that the isolate required a pH greater than 8 for consistent growth, could not grow alone on liquid media but could grow alone on the corresponding solid media, could grow in liquid media only in the presence of Anabaena, formed tough mucilagenous colonies on solid media only in the presence of Anabaena extract, and rapidly assimilated but did not respire extracellular 14C-labelled organic matter produced by Anabaena suggested that the occurrence of the bacterium in cyanobacterial mucilage was not coincidental but reflected an obligatory bacterial requirement for the biological or physicochemical microenvironment of the mucilage. The bacterial isolate occurred in three growth forms. Either as a planktonic swarmer cell (which showed a positive chemotactic response to the cyanobacterium) embedded in cyanobacterial mucilage, or embedded in its own mucilage derived, in part, from a low molecular weight (below 1300) carbohydrate secreted by the cyanobacterium. These cultural, biochemical, and ecological characteristics suggest that the isolate is a new species in the genus Zoogloea and of potential importance in phytoplankton ecology.     

Sucrose-phosphate phosphatase from Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120: isolation of the protein and gene revealed significant structural differences from the higher-plant enzyme

The present study describes the first isolation and characterization of a prokaryotic protein and gene for sucrose-phosphate phosphatase (SPP), the enzyme that catalyzes the terminal step in sucrose synthesis. For gene isolation, a 2,015-bp DNA fragment containing an open reading frame with about 31% amino acid identity to Synechocystis SPS was amplified from Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 DNA. Surprisingly, expression of the putative gene in Escherichia coli demonstrated that it encoded an SPP protein. The expressed protein cross-reacted with antibodies against the native form of Anabaena SPP and its biochemical properties were identical to those of the enzyme purified from the cyanobacterial cells. Comparisons of the Anabaena SPP with the higher-plant enzyme revealed important differences in the C-terminal region, molecular mass, subunit composition and immunoreactivity. Nevertheless, two conserved motifs, including four invariant aspartate residues similar to those found in members of the phosphohydrolase superfamily, were identified in the Anabaena SPP deduced amino acid sequence.     

Lipopolysaccharide dependence of cyanophage sensitivity and aerobic nitrogen fixation in Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120.

Fox- mutants of Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 are unable to fix dinitrogen in the presence of oxygen. A fragment of the DNA of Anabaena sp. was cloned by complementation of a spontaneous Fox-, cyanophage-resistant mutant, R56, and characterized. Random insertion of transposon Tn5 delimited the complementing DNA to a 0.6-kb portion of the cloned fragment. Sequencing of this region and flanking DNA showed one complete open reading frame (ORF) similar to the gene rfbP (undecaprenyl-phosphate galactosephosphotransferase) and two partial ORFs similar to genes rfbD (GDP-D-mannose dehydratase) and rfbZ (first mannosyl transferase), all of which are active in the synthesis of the O antigen unit of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) component of the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria. In a transposon (Tn5-1087b)-induced, Fox-, cyanophage-resistant mutant, B14, the transposon was found within the same rfbP-like ORF. The three ORFs were insertionally inactivated with the omega cassette (P. Prentki and H. M. Krisch, Gene 29:303-313, 1984) or with Tn5::omega. Only the insertions in the rfbZ- and rfbP-like ORFs led to resistance to cyanophages A-1(L) and A-4(L) and to a Fox- phenotype. Electrophoretic analysis showed that interruption of the rfbZ- and rfbP-like ORFs resulted in a change in or loss of the characteristic pattern of the lengths of the LPS, whereas interruption of the rfbD-like ORF merely changed the distribution of the lengths of the LPS to one with a greater prevalence of low molecular weights. According to electron microscopy, interruption of the rfbP-like ORF may have led to aberrant deposition of the layers of the heterocyst envelope, resulting in increased leakage of oxygen into the heterocyst. The results suggest that modified LPS may prevent cyanophage infection of Anabaena sp. vegetative cells and the formation of a functional heterocyst envelope.     

Siderophore-mediated iron uptake in different strains of Anabaena sp.

Anabaena sp. strain 6411, which produces the dihydroxamate siderophore schizokinen to facilitate iron uptake, is also capable of using the related siderophore aerobactin. The two siderophores compete for the same iron transport system, but there is a markedly higher affinity for ferric schizokinen than for ferric aerobactin. The trihydroxamate siderophore ferrioxamine B is far less effective as an iron donor in this organism. Anabaena sp. strain 7120 appears to be closely related to strain 6411. It synthesizes schizokinen as its major siderophore and shows rates of iron uptake from ferric schizokinen, ferric aerobactin, and ferrioxamine B which are similar to those observed with strain 6411. Anabaena cylindrica Lemm. 7122 and 1611, on the other hand, differ from strain 6411. In contrast to schizokinen, the hydroxamate which they produce in response to iron starvation cannot be extracted with water from the organic layer and does not support the growth of the siderophore auxotroph Arthrobacter flavescens JG-9. Strain 7122 can use its endogenous siderophore or schizokinen to promote iron uptake, but at 50-fold-lower rates than are observed with Anabaena sp. strain 6411 or 7120.     

鱼腥藻7120遗传转化的研究进展

鱼腥藻7120作为模式生物被广泛用于光合、固氮、进化、代谢等基本生命现象的研究。近几年, 对其基因工程的研究使人们看到它在医药、环保、能源等方面的应用潜力, 但表达效率低是其发展的瓶颈。为了提高其表达效率, 研究者从鱼腥藻7120的载体(包括启动子、复制子、选择标记基因等)的改进、目的基因的优化(密码子和SD序列)、宿主的改善、转化方法的改变等方面进行了大量探索, 除了用于功能基因的研究, 已经有几十个外源基因在鱼腥藻7120中表达。除了研究载体, 诱变鱼腥藻7120形成有利于外源基因表达的突变体和摸索转基因蓝藻最佳生长条件和表达条件, 可能是新的发展方向。     

NADP(+)-isocitrate dehydrogenase from the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120: purification and characterization of the enzyme and cloning, sequencing, and disruption of the icd gene.

NADP(+)-isocitrate dehydrogenase (NADP(+)-IDH) from the dinitrogen-fixing filamentous cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 was purified to homogeneity. The native enzyme is composed of two identical subunits (M(r), 57,000) and cross-reacts with antibodies obtained against the previously purified NADP(+)-IDH from the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803. Anabaena NADP(+)-IDH resembles in its physicochemical and kinetic parameters the typical dimeric IDHs from prokaryotes. The gene encoding Anabaena NADP(+)-IDH was cloned by complementation of an Escherichia coli icd mutant with an Anabaena genomic library. The complementing DNA was located on a 6-kb fragment. It encodes an NADP(+)-IDH that has the same mobility as that of Anabaena NADP(+)-IDH on nondenaturing polyacrylamide gels. The icd gene was subcloned and sequenced. Translation of the nucleotide sequence gave a polypeptide of 473 amino acids that showed high sequence similarity to the E. coli enzyme (59% identity) and with IDH1 and IDH2, the two subunits of the heteromultimeric NAD(+)-IDH from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (30 to 35% identity); however, a low level of similarity to NADP(+)-IDHs of eukaryotic origin was found (23% identity). Furthermore, Anabaena NADP(+)-IDH contains a 44-residue amino acid sequence in its central region that is absent in the other IDHs so far sequenced. Attempts to generate icd mutants by insertional mutagenesis were unsuccessful, suggesting an essential role of IDH in Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120.     

转TNF-α基因鱼腥藻7120质粒稳定性研究

为了实现转基因鱼腥藻培养生产TMF的目的,讲究了转基因鱼腥藻的稳定性。影印法证实转TNF-α。基因鱼腥藻7120能保持质粒分配稳定性。比较无选择压力下连续传代的转丛因鱼醒藻7120在不同培养基中的生长和外源基因表达,证实没有发生质粒部分缺失,但转基因鱼腥藻在无选择压力下会降低重组质粒拷贝数。在培养过程中,种子培养越含有的新霉素可以保持生产过程质粒稳定,这可以大火减少新霉素用量。     

The structural nif genes of the cyanobacteria Gloeothece sp. and Calothrix sp. share homology with those of Anabaena sp., but the Gloeothece genes have a different arrangement.

Probes carrying the Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 nitrogenase reductase (nifH) and nitrogenase (nifK and nifD) genes were hybridized to Southern blots of DNA from the unicellular, aerobic nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium Gloeothece sp. strain PCC 6909 and from the filamentous cyanobacterium Calothrix sp. strain PCC 7601. These data suggest that the Gloeothece sp. nif structural proteins must be similar to those of other diazotrophs and that the ability for aerobic nitrogen fixation does not reside in the nif protein complex. We also found that the nif structural genes of Gloeothece sp. are clustered, whereas those of Calothrix sp. are arranged more like those of Anabaena sp.     

Regulation of Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 glutamine synthetase activity in a Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803 derivative strain bearing the Anabaena glnA gene and a mutated host glnA gene.

The glnA gene from Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803 was cloned by hybridization with the glnA gene from Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120, and a deletion-insertion mutation of the Synechocystis gene was generated in vitro. A strain derived from Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803 which contained integrated into the chromosome, in addition to its own glnA gene, the Anabaena glnA gene was constructed. From that strain, a Synechocystis sp. glnA mutant could be obtained by transformation with the inactivated Synechocystis glnA gene; this mutant grew by using Anabaena glutamine synthetase and was not a glutamine auxotroph. A Synechocystis sp. glnA mutant could not be obtained, however, from the wild-type Synechocystis sp. The Anabaena glutamine synthetase enzyme was subject to ammonium-promoted inactivation when expressed in the Synechocystis strain but not in the Anabaena strain itself.     

Isolation, sequence, and expression in Escherichia coli of an unusual thioredoxin gene from the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120.

Two sequences with homology to a thioredoxin oligonucleotide probe were detected by Southern blot analysis of Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 genomic DNA. One of the sequences was shown to code for a protein with 37% amino acid identity to thioredoxins from Escherichia coli and Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7119. This is in contrast to the usual 50% homology observed among most procaryotic thioredoxins. One gene was identified in a library and was subcloned into a pUC vector and used to transform E. coli strains lacking functional thioredoxin. The Anabaena strain 7120 thioredoxin gene did not complement the trxA mutation in E. coli. Transformed cells were not able to use methionine sulfoxide as a methionine source or support replication of T7 bacteriophage or the filamentous viruses M13 and f1. Sequence analysis of a 720-base-pair TaqI fragment indicated an open reading frame of 115 amino acids. The Anabaena strain 7120 thioredoxin gene was expressed in E. coli, and the protein was purified by assaying for protein disulfide reductase activity, using insulin as a substrate. The Anabaena strain 7120 thioredoxin exhibited the properties of a conventional thioredoxin. It is a small heat-stable redox protein and an efficient protein disulfide reductase. It is not a substrate for E. coli thioredoxin reductase. Chemically reduced Anabaena strain 7120 thioredoxin was able to serve as reducing agent for both E. coli and Anabaena strain 7119 ribonucleotide reductases, although with less efficiency than the homologous counterparts. The Anabaena strain 7120 thioredoxin cross-reacted with polyclonal antibodies to Anabaena strain 7119 thioredoxin. However, this unusual thioredoxin was not detected in extracts of Anabaena strain 7120, and its physiological function is unknown.