title: Transcriptional response of Choristoneura fumiferana to sublethal exposure of Cry1Ab protoxin from Bacillus thuringiensis.
abstract: Bacillus thuringiensis is a microbial control agent active against Choristoneura fumiferana, a lepidopteran defoliator of North American forests. Although the B. thuringiensis insecticidal crystal protoxins have a relatively narrow host range, there is concern about their impact on non-target species where intoxication effects may not be overt. Larval toxicity effects can be assessed at the molecular level by determining altered transcriptional profiles in response to sublethal protoxin exposure in sensitive insects. Subtraction hybridization libraries were created using two larval populations, control and protoxin-fed and were characterized by sequencing 1091 clones. Differential mRNA expression of selected clones, as measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction, identified a number of metabolic and stress-related genes that were either transcriptionally enhanced or repressed after protoxin exposure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Meunier
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Préfontaine
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Van Munster
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brousseau
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Masson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000083722:Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000633:toxicity*; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000633:toxicity*; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000633:toxicity*; D015723:Gene Library; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins / Q000633:toxicity*; D007814:Larva / Q000187:drug effects; D007915:Lepidoptera / Q000187:drug effects*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000083722:Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D017931:DNA Primers; D004731:Endotoxins; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C030956:insecticidal crystal protein, Bacillus Thuringiensis