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Isolation and Identification of a Pathogen of Silkworm Bombyx mori

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Abstract

A pathogenic bacterial strain, ST-1, was isolated from a naturally infected silkworm. The strain was identified on the basis of its physiological and biochemical properties and the results of sequence analysis of its 16S rRNA gene. The results of the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that ST-1 shared the highest sequence identity (more than 99%) with Pseudomonas chlororaphis subsp. aurantiaca. ST-1 bacteria were gram-negative and 0.7–0.9 × 1.3–1.5 μm long, short rods with rounded ends. The strain could utilize sodium citrate, malonate, d-glucose, sucrose, d-fructose, d-mannose, and l-arabinose. Pathogenicity of ST-1 for silkworm could be depicted as a linear regression of the logarithm (y) of ST-1 concentration against probability (x) (y = 0.4040 + 0.0600x). The median lethal concentration (LC50) was 2.12 × 104 cfu/ml. In conclusion, ST-1 was identified as Ps. chlororaphis subsp. aurantiaca. This is the first report that Ps. aurantiaca is a pathogen for silkworm Bombyx mori.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by funds earmarked for the Modern Agro-industry Technology Research System of China. We are grateful to all who provided us with the means to access the free software we used in this study and have cited in this article. We thank all partners and laboratory members for their help and critiques.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Biotechnology and Environmental Engineering, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, 212018, China

    Heng-Ping Tao, Zhong-Yuan Shen, Feng Zhu, Xiao-Fang Xu & Xu-Dong Tang

  2. The Sericultural Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, 212018, China

    Zhong-Yuan Shen & Li Xu

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  1. Heng-Ping Tao
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  2. Zhong-Yuan Shen
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  3. Feng Zhu
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  4. Xiao-Fang Xu
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  5. Xu-Dong Tang
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  6. Li Xu
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Correspondence to Zhong-Yuan Shen.

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Tao, HP., Shen, ZY., Zhu, F. et al. Isolation and Identification of a Pathogen of Silkworm Bombyx mori . Curr Microbiol 62, 876–883 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-010-9796-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-010-9796-x

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