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Phylogeny of Bacteria Isolated from Rhabditis sp. (Nematoda) and Identification of Novel Entomopathogenic Serratia marcescens Strains

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Abstract

Twenty-five bacterial strains isolated from entomopathogenic nematodes were characterized to the genus level by 16S rRNA phylogeny and BLAST analyses. Bacteria strains isolated could be affiliated with seven genera. Microbacterium-like isolates phylogenetically affiliated with M. oxydans while those of Serratia were highly similar to S. marcescens. 16S rRNA sequences of Bacillus isolates matched those of both B. mycoides and B. weihenstephanesis. One isolate each matched Pseudomonas mosselii, Rheinheimera aquimaris, Achromobacter marplatensis, or Staphylococcus hominis. Serratia isolates were examined further for their pathogenicity to Galleria mellonella larvae. All the Serratia isolates exhibited potent pathogenicity toward G. mellonella larvae and possessed a metalloprotease gene encoding for a novel serralysin-like protein. The nucleotide sequence of the metalloprotease gene had 60 synonymous and 8 nonsynonymous substitutions when compared to the closest genBank entry, S. marcescens E-15, with an insertion of a new aspartic acid residue. Tajima’s test for equality of evolutionary rate was significant between the metalloprotease gene sequence of S. marcescens strain DOAB 216-82 (this study) and strain E-15. This new insecticidal metalloprotease gene and/or its product could have applications in agricultural biotechnology.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada through project #1800. We are grateful to Mr. R. Xu for assistance with some of the experiments; and to Mr. Rafik Assagbui for providing technical assistance with DNA sequencing. Thanks to Dr. Q. Yu and staff of the Nematology Unit and Entomology Biocontrol Laboratory for their assistance. Thanks to S. Miller for reviewing the manuscript.

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  1. Bacteriology Unit, Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0C6, Canada

    James T. Tambong

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Correspondence to James T. Tambong.

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Tambong, J.T. Phylogeny of Bacteria Isolated from Rhabditis sp. (Nematoda) and Identification of Novel Entomopathogenic Serratia marcescens Strains. Curr Microbiol 66, 138–144 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-012-0250-0

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