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A Photorhabdus akhurstii toxin altered gut homeostasis prior conferring cytotoxicity in Spodoptera frugiperda, S. litura and Helicoverpa armigera

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Abstract

The nematode-bacterium pair Heterorhabditis indica-Photorhabdus akhurstii is a model system to study symbiotic associations. Upon introduction into the host hemocoel by its nematode partner, the bacterium produces a number of toxins which kill the insect. Nevertheless, unlike Bt toxins majority of Photorhabdus toxins are not orally active which hinders their commercial exploitation as insect biological control agent. In the present study, an orally active 63 kDa protein, TcaB (derived from P. akhurstii strains IARI-SGHR2 and IARI-SGMS1), was investigated for its biological activity against agriculturally important insects including Spodoptera frugiperda, S. litura and Helicoverpa armigera. A force feeding-based oral administration of TcaB exhibited LD50 values of 92.25–105.5, 145.4–156.6 and 190.75–200.75 ng/g in S. frugiperda, S. litura and H. armigera, respectively, which was comparable with the injection LD50 values of 80.5–95.75, 138.6–150.4 and 186–197 ng/g. An oral delivery of 500 ng TcaB caused a continual disintegration of midgut architecture in S. frugiperda, S. litura and H. armigera over 12 to 48 h incubation period putatively leading to escape of TcaB into the hemocoel. Simultaneously, alike of intra-hemocoel injection effect, TcaB oral delivery caused cytotoxicity and immune-stimulatory effect in the hemocoel of all the test insects during 12 to 48 h after inoculation, supporting our hypothesis. The circulatory hemocyte numbers and cell viability was considerably reduced in the TcaB-inoculated larvae compared to control. In parallel, the hemolymph phenoloxidase activity was elevated by manifold in the toxin-treated insects. In silico docking analyses suggested that TcaB interacts with a number of S. frugiperda, S. litura and H. armigera receptor proteins in order to become a gut-active toxin. Current study describes the potential of orally-active Photorhabdus toxins as an alternative to Bt and fortifies the existing pest management tactics.

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Acknowledgements

Present research was funded by the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB)-Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India (Project code: YSS/2014/000452). M.Sc. student KS acknowledges Post Graduate School, ICAR-IARI. We sincerely thank Dr. Vishal Somvanshi, Senior Scientist, ICAR-IARI for providing us the bacterial strains.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Nematology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India

    Tushar K. Dutta, Kodhandaraman Santhoshkumar & Chetna Mathur

  2. Division of Agricultural Chemicals, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India

    Abhishek Mandal

  3. Division of Entomology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India

    Doddachowdappa Sagar

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  1. Tushar K. Dutta
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  2. Kodhandaraman Santhoshkumar
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  3. Chetna Mathur
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  4. Abhishek Mandal
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  5. Doddachowdappa Sagar
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Contributions

TKD and KS performed all the experiments. AM performed bioinformatics analyses. DS helped in insect rearing. TKD conceptualized the experiments, wrote the draft and performed statistical analyses.

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Correspondence to Tushar K. Dutta.

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Dutta, T.K., Santhoshkumar, K., Mathur, C. et al. A Photorhabdus akhurstii toxin altered gut homeostasis prior conferring cytotoxicity in Spodoptera frugiperda, S. litura and Helicoverpa armigera. Phytoparasitica 49, 943–958 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12600-021-00941-9

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