title: Enhanced nematicidal potential of the chitinase pachi from Pseudomonas aeruginosa in association with Cry21Aa.
abstract: Nematodes are known to be harmful to various crops, vegetables, plants and insects. The present study reports that, chitin upregulates the activity of chitinase (20%) and nematicidal potential (15%) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The chitinase gene (pachi) from P. aeruginosa was cloned, and its nematicidal activity of pachi protein against Caenorhabditis elegans was studied. The mortality rate induced by pachi increased by 6.3-fold when in association with Cry21Aa from Bacillus thuringiensis. Pachi efficiently killed C. elegans in its native state (LC50 = 387.3 ± 31.7 μg/ml), as well as in association with Cry21Aa (LC50 = 30.9 ± 4.1 μg/ml), by degrading the cuticle, egg shell and intestine in a relatively short time period of 24 h. To explore the nematidal potential of chitinase, six fusion proteins were constructed using gene engineering techniques. The CHACry showed higher activity against C. elegans than others owing to its high solubility. Notably, the CHACry showed a synergistic factor of 4.1 versus 3.5 a mixture [1:1] of pachi and Cry21Aa. The present study has identified eco-friendly biological routes (e.g., mixed proteins, fusion proteins) with potent nematicidal activity, which not only can help to prevent major crop losses but also strengthen the agro-economy and increase gross crop yield.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430 070, China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430 070, China.
authors.forename: Huang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430 070, China.
authors.forename: Qipeng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430 070, China.
authors.forename: Junpeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
authors.forename: Gaobing
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430 070, China.
authors.forename: Ashok
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430 070, China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430 070, China.
authors.forename: Ziduo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000969:Antinematodal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000494:pharmacology; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000187:drug effects; D002688:Chitinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004357:Drug Synergism; D015870:Gene Expression; D010802:Phylogeny; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000145:classification / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000969:Antinematodal Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D002688:Chitinases