Degradation of acephate by Enterobacter asburiae, Bacillus cereus and Pantoea agglomerans isolated from diamondback moth Plutella xylostella (L), a pest of cruciferous crops.

Acephate-degrading bacterial isolates were isolated from the larval gut of diamondback moth Plutella xylostella, a notorious pest of cruciferous crops worldwide that has developed resistance to insecticides. Partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing identified the isolates as Bacillus cereus (PX-B.C.Or), Enterobacter asburiae (PXE), and Pantoae agglomerans (PX-Pt.ag.Jor). All isolates grew on minimal media (MM) in the presence of acephate at 100 and 200 ppm, with maximum growth at 200 ppm. LC-MS analyses of spent medium showed that E. asburiae degraded acephate to methamidophos and O, O-dimethyl phosporamidate and B. cereus O,S-dimethyl to phosphorothioate but P. agglomerans to an unnamed compound. All three isolates used acephate as a source of carbon and energy for growth; however, P. agglomerans used it also as source of sulphur. Strong evidence revealed that the bacterial communities present in the gut of diamondback moth might aid in acephate degradation and play a role in the development of insecticide resistance.

Detection of carboxylesterase and esterase activity in culturable gut bacterial flora isolated from diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (Linnaeus), from India and its possible role in indoxacarb degradation

Diamondback moth (DBM), Plutella xylostella (Linnaeus), is a notorious pest of brassica crops worldwide and is resistant to all groups of insecticides. The insect system harbors diverse groups of microbiota, which in turn helps in enzymatic degradation of xenobiotic-like insecticides. The present study aimed to determine the diversity of gut microflora in DBM, quantify esterase activity and elucidate their possible role in degradation of indoxacarb. We screened 11 geographic populations of DBM in India and analyzed them for bacterial diversity. The culturable gut bacterial flora underwent molecular characterization with 16S rRNA. We obtained 25 bacterial isolates from larvae (n = 13) and adults (n = 12) of DBM. In larval gut isolates, gammaproteobacteria was the most abundant (76%), followed by bacilli (15.4%). Molecular characterization placed adult gut bacterial strains into three major classes based on abundance: gammaproteobacteria (66%), bacilli (16.7%) and flavobacteria (16.7%). Esterase activity from 19 gut bacterial isolates ranged from 0.072 to 2.32 µmol/min/mg protein. Esterase bands were observed in 15 bacterial strains and the banding pattern differed in Bacillus cereus KC985225 and Pantoea agglomerans KC985229. The bands were characterized as carboxylesterase with profenofos used as an inhibitor. Minimal media study showed that B. cereus degraded indoxacarb up to 20%, so it could use indoxacarb for metabolism and growth. Furthermore, esterase activity was greater with minimal media than control media: 1.87 versus 0.26 µmol/min/mg protein. Apart from the insect esterases, bacterial carboxylesterase may aid in the degradation of insecticides in DBM.(AU)