ABSTRACT
Bacillus thuringiensis insecticidal proteins (Bt toxins) have been widely used in crops for agricultural pest management and to reduce the use of chemical insecticides. Here, we have engineered Bt toxin Cry2Ab30 and bioconjugated it with 4"-O-succinyl avermectin (AVM) to synthesize Cry2Ab-AVM bioconjugate. It was found that Cry2Ab-AVM showed higher insecticidal activity against Plutella xylostella, up to 154.4 times compared to Cry2Ab30. The binding results showed that Cry2Ab-AVM binds to the cadherin-like binding protein fragments, the 10th and 11th cadherin repeat domains in the P. xylostella cadherin (PxCR10-11), with a much higher affinity (dissociation equilibrium constant KD = 3.44 nM) than Cry2Ab30 (KD = 28.7 nM). Molecular docking suggested that the macrolide lactone group of Cry2Ab-AVM ligand docking into the PxCR10-11 is a potential mechanism to enhance the binding affinity of Cry2Ab-AVM to PxCR10-11. These findings offer scope for the engineering of Bt toxins by bioconjugation for improved pest management.
Subject(s)
Bacillus thuringiensis , Bacterial Proteins/pharmacology , Endotoxins/pharmacology , Hemolysin Proteins/pharmacology , Insect Proteins/chemistry , Insecticides/pharmacology , Ivermectin/analogs & derivatives , Moths/drug effects , Animals , Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins , Bacterial Proteins/chemistry , Endotoxins/chemistry , Hemolysin Proteins/chemistry , Insecticides/chemical synthesis , Insecticides/chemistry , Ivermectin/chemistry , Ivermectin/pharmacology , Molecular Docking Simulation , Protein BindingABSTRACT
We report herein the synthesis of two different silver clusters of aryl- and alkyl-thiolates. These two cluster complexes exhibited biased C-S bond cleavage reaction rates upon removing protective hexamethylazacalix[6]pyridine (Py[6]) ligands, which was applied in the fabrication of silver sulfide nanoclusters with variable and controllable sizes.
Subject(s)
Nanostructures/chemistry , Silver Compounds/chemistry , Ligands , Pyridines/chemistryABSTRACT
For the first time, we reported the strong electrogenerated chemiluminescence of organic dye, bis[4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]squaraine (BDPSQ), a high quantum yield and light-stable species, which might find applications in ECL analysis and imaging.
ABSTRACT
A soluble 2,3,9,10-tetrakis(trimethylsilyl)pentacene (1) was synthesized; the discovery of the radical cationic character of in solution through EPR measurement has provided insights into the sensitivity of acenes towards light and oxygen.