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Scientia Silvae Sinicae ›› 2025, Vol. 61 ›› Issue (11): 45-55.doi: 10.11707/j.1001-7488.LYKX20240665

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Screening of Highly Virulent Bt Strains Against Hyblaea puera (Cramer) and Identification of cry Insecticidal Genes

Jicheng Zhao1,2(),Qinghua Wang1,Yunpeng Liu1,Longwa Zhang2,Dezhi Kong1,Yaojun Zhu4,Liangjian Qu1,3,*()   

  1. 1. Ecology and Nature Conservation Institute, Chinese Academy of Forestry Key Laboratory of Forest Protection of National Forestry and Grassland Administration Beijing 100091
    2. College of Forestry and Horticulture, Anhui Agricultural University Hefei 230036
    3. Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University Nanjing 210037
    4. Zhanjiang National Research Station for Mangrove Wetland Ecosystem Zhanjiang 524448
  • Received:2024-11-08 Revised:2025-03-14 Online:2025-11-25 Published:2025-12-11
  • Contact: Liangjian Qu E-mail:zhaojic2024@163.com;qulj2001@caf.ac.cn

Abstract:

Objective: This study aims to screen efficient strains of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) strains with high efficiency against Hyblaea puera (Cramer), providing excellent biocontrol resources for its green prevention and control. Method: In this study, the bioactivity of 10 Bt strains against 3rd instar larvae of H. puera was determined. The similarities and differences between highly and low virulent strains were investigated in terms of parasporal crystal morphology, cry genotypes, and insecticidal crystal proteins using phase contrast microscope and scanning electron microscope (SEM), PCR-RFLP analysis combined with target gene fragment sequencing, and SDS-PAGE methods. Result: 1) All 10 Bt strains showed insecticidal activity against 3rd instar larvae of H. puera, among which 3 highly virulent strains, FJ-3, YN-1 and YN-2, had highly virulent and caused up to or close to 100% mortality to the insects within 48 hour, with LC50 of the three strains were 1.51×107 cfu·mL?1、6.20×106 cfu·mL?1和2.22×106 cfu·mL?1, respectively, and the LT50 of 22.14 h, 19.87 h and 17.04 h, respectively. 2) Through scanning electron microscopy observation, it was found that highly virulent strains were able to produce a variety of the parasporal crystals (3–4 types), mainly in bipyramidal and mosaic-shaped, while low virulent strains produced 1–2 types of crystals, mostly spherical and irregular. There were also differences in cry genotypes and insecticidal crystal protein molecular weight between the high and low virulent strains. Additionally, the cry genotypes of all the above-mentioned three highly virulent strains were cry1Aa, cry2Ab and cry1Ia. Conclusion: In this study, Bt strains FJ-3, YN-1, and YN-2 with strong pathogenicity against H. puera in mangrove ecosystems have been screened, and the analysis of their parasporal crystal characteristics and cry genotypes provides a reference for the molecular screening, exploration, and utilization of high-quality biocontrol resources in future research.

Key words: Hyblaea puera, mangrove, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), characteristics of parasporal crystals, cry genotype

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