Publication details
Bioactive molecules produced by Heterorhabditis bacteriophora affects the phenoloxidase system of Galleria mellonella
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| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Entomopathogenic nematodes are able to produce bioactive molecules referred as excreted/secreted products (ESPs). The ESPs are small molecules, proteins and nucleic acids which can interfere with the host immune system in order to increase the chance of entomopathogenic nematodes reproduction. We tested the effect of ESPs obtained from Heterorhabditis bacteriophora on immune system of Galleria mellonella larvae. The results indicated suppression of phenoloxidase activity after administration of isolated ESPs. Subsequently, the isolated ESPs were purified in two steps to obtain and identify the active fraction. Firstly, the ESPs were purified based on their charge resulting in five distinct fractions. Two of them inhibited phenoloxidase activity of G. mellonella larvae. These active fractions were subjected to second purification step in which ESPs were separated based on their molecular weight. We obtained seven fractions and we tested their effect on phenoloxidase activity. The purified molecules in fraction with molecular mass of 38 kDa significantly inhibited phenoloxidase activity of G. mellonella larvae. Oncoming analysis of purified active molecules are focused on their identification by mass spectroscopy. The immunosuppressive nature of ESPs is possible to utilize as the biological control of insect pests in agriculture. It is of note that some ESPs contain also compounds with high bioactivity which are able to affect the mammalian immunity or act as the antibiotic agent. Because of these properties, the ESPs can be used as an interesting source of bioactive molecules with potential use in pharmacology. This study was supported by grant from The Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic (QK1910286). |
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