title: Effects of entomopathogenic bacterium Photorhabdus temperata infection on the digestive enzymes of Diatraea saccharalis (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) larvae.
abstract: This study investigated the effects of Photorhabdus temperata infection on the activities of digestive enzymes of the sugarcane stalk borer Diatraea saccharalis. Non-infected D. saccharalis larvae present a major alpha-amylase, several proteinases, three sucrose hydrolases and two alpha-glucosidases in their midgut. Analysis of these hydrolases by electrophoresis and "in gel" assays showed that the activities of all enzymes decreased following infection, with an initial decline observed 12 h after infection. The activities of alpha-glucosidases decreased by 50% twelve hours after infection, whereas, at this time, the alpha-galactosidase activities decreased by 70%. Interestingly, the animals died 48 h after infection, but approximately 5% of all the enzymes tested remained active in the midgut following host death. At this time, most of the cultivable native intestinal bacteria had died.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, CEP 88040-900, Florianópolis, Brasil. capsilva@ccb.ufsc.br.
authors.forename: C N B
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Carneiro
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Damatta
authors.forename: R I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Samuels
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Silva
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004064:Digestive System / Q000201:enzymology / Q000382:microbiology; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases / Q000378:metabolism; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D007814:Larva / Q000201:enzymology / Q000382:microbiology; D007915:Lepidoptera / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases / Q000378:metabolism; D020637:Photorhabdus / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D031786:Saccharum / Q000469:parasitology; D000516:alpha-Amylases / Q000378:metabolism; D000520:alpha-Glucosidases / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases; D000516:alpha-Amylases; D000520:alpha-Glucosidases; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases