Unusual amino acid determinants of host range in the Mtx2 family of mosquitocidal toxins

Abstract

Five different mosquitocidal toxin (mtx2) gene homologs have been cloned from eight Bacillus sphaericus strains. Pairwise comparisons of the predicted amino acid sequences show between four and eight substitutions compared with the prototype Mtx2 from B. sphaericus strain SSII-1. Mtx2 from strain SSII-1 was ~7-fold more toxic to Culex mosquito larvae than the Mtx2 homolog from B. sphaericus strain 31-2. Conversely, Mtx2 from strain 31-2 was ~100-fold more toxic to Aedes mosquito larvae than Mtx2 from strain SSII-1. Lys224 in Mtx2 was found to be the most important amino acid for toxicity to Culex larvae, and substitution of Lys224 with threonine abolished the toxicity of Mtx2 from strain SSII-1 to these larvae. In complete contrast, Thr224 was found to be crucial for the toxicity of Mtx2 from strain 31-2 to Aedes larvae, and substitution of Thr224 with lysine caused a ~100-fold drop in toxicity to these larvae. Thus, amino acid 224 in the Mtx2 family of mosquitocidal toxins is an unusual and important determinant of mosquito larvicidal activity and host range.