title: Cecropins from Plutella xylostella and Their Interaction with Metarhizium anisopliae.
abstract: Cecropins are the most potent induced peptides to resist invading microorganisms. In the present study, two full length cDNA encoding cecropin2 (Px-cec2) and cecropin3 (Px-cec3) were obtained from P. xylostella by integrated analysis of genome and transcriptome data. qRT-PCR analysis revealed the high levels of transcripts of Px-cecs (Px-cec1, Px-cec2 and Px-cec3) in epidermis, fat body and hemocytes after 24, 30 and 36 h induction of Metarhizium anisopliae, respectively. Silencing of Spätzle and Dorsal separately caused the low expression of cecropins in the fat body, epidermis and hemocytes, and made the P.xylostella larvae more susceptible to M. anisopliae. Antimicrobial assays demonstrated that the purified recombinant cecropins, i.e., Px-cec1, Px-cec2 and Px-cec3, exerted a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity against fungi, as well as Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Especially, Px-cecs showed higher activity against M. anisopliae than another selected fungi isolates. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that cecropins exerted the vital morphological alterations to the spores of M. anisopliae. Based on our results, cecropins played an imperative role in resisting infection of M. anisopliae, which will provide the foundation of biological control of insect pests by using cecorpins as a target in the future.
authors.affiliation: College of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ouyang
authors.affiliation: College of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaoxia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, 60800, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Shoaib
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Freed
authors.affiliation: College of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yanfu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: College of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: College of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Wenyan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ju
authors.affiliation: College of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yuqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Agriculture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, 510642, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Fengliang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jin
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D054807:Cecropins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D019476:Insect Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D052981:Metarhizium / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009036:Moths / Q000737:chemistry*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D054807:Cecropins; D019476:Insect Proteins