title: Genetic determinants of host ranges of Bacillus sphaericus mosquito larvicidal toxins.
abstract: The 51.4-kDa-41.9-kDa binary toxin produced by different strains of Bacillus sphaericus shows differential activity toward Culex quinquefasciatus, Aedes atropalpus, and Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae. The patterns of larvicidal activity toward all three mosquito species and growth retardation in A. aegypti have been shown to be due to the 41.9-kDa protein. By using mutant toxins expressed in Escherichia coli, insecticidal activity and growth retardation correlated with amino acids centered around position 100 of the 41.9-kDa protein. In its response to these toxins, A. atropalpus resembled C. quinquefasciatus rather than its congener, A. aegypti.
authors.affiliation: Insecticidal Toxins Laboratory, National University of Singapore.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Berry
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hindley
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Ehrhardt
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Grounds
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: de Souza
authors.forename: E W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Davidson
mesh_terms: D000330:Aedes / Q000187:drug effects*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001407:Bacillus / Q000235:genetics*; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000494:pharmacology; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003465:Culex / Q000187:drug effects*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D007814:Larva; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D010957:Plasmids; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C046134:binB protein, Bacillus sphaericus