title: Melanin pigment formation and increased UV resistance in Bacillus thuringiensis following high temperature induction.
abstract: The pigment melanin is well known to protect against the damaging effects of UV radiation. In this study, we show that thirty-five of thirty-seven tested Bacillus thuringiensis strains possess the potential to produce melanin in the presence of L-tyrosin at elevated temperature (42 degrees C). These findings offer a method of protecting insecticidal toxins produced by B. thuringiensis from UV degredation and may therefore have important applications in the field of crop protection. Toxicity assays on Heliothis armigera suggested that the insecticidal activity of B. thuringiensis that produced melanin was significantly higher after UV irradiation than when melanin was not produced.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Ministry of Education, Wuhan, PR China.
authors.forename: Lifang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ruan
authors.forename: Ziniu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Yujie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001413:Bacillus thuringiensis / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D000083722:Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000633:toxicity; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000633:toxicity; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000633:toxicity; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins; D007980:Levodopa / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008543:Melanins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000502:physiology; D009036:Moths / Q000254:growth & development / Q000382:microbiology; D010572:Pest Control, Biological / Q000379:methods; D013696:Temperature; D014443:Tyrosine / Q000378:metabolism; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D000083722:Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004731:Endotoxins; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins; D008543:Melanins; C030956:insecticidal crystal protein, Bacillus Thuringiensis; D014443:Tyrosine; D007980:Levodopa