Impact of activation materials on Heterorhabditis bacteriophora excreted/secreted products
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| Year of publication | 2024 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
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| Description | Entomopathogenic nematodes are obligate insect parasites that, once inside an insect host, undergo a process called activation or recovery. This process is associated with the release of excreted/secreted products (ESPs), which consist of various functional molecules. Some ESPs have been identified as immunomodulators and virulence factors, which further increased interest in their research. Understanding the functions of ESPs is crucial to comprehend the mechanism of nematodes pathogenicity and enhance their potential for biological control. This study evaluates the protein spectra of Heterorhabditis bacteriophora ESPs in relation to different activation materials. As an activation material in the in vitro activation assay, we chose three Galleria mellonella derived materials prepared with various approaches. Water and phosphate buffer was used as a control. By comparing ESPs profile between infective juveniles activated by insect-derived materials and controls, we identified several host-specific molecules. ESPs-containing samples from all treatments were analyzed using LC-MS/MS, and protein identification was conducted utilizing the in-house H. bacteriophora RNAseq database. We identified 372 proteins in total. The majority were found in the sample activated with PBS. In contrast, the lowest numbers of identified proteins were in the samples activated with insect derived material. Quantitative proteomic analysis showed significant differences in ESP composition depending on the used activation materials. Various proteins which could be involved in nematode-insect interaction were identified, such as metallopeptidase, TIL domain-containing protein and others. Interestingly, in our control groups we detected previously described immunomodulator fatty acid retinoid-binding protein. Activation materials showed a significant impact on the ESPs diversity and abundance. This implies that the way of nematode activation may play a crucial role in nematode pathogenicity. Its understanding could lead to an increase in the effectiveness of the EPN usage in biocontrol. This study was supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, project No. GAČR 23-06457S. |
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