Journal of Undergraduate Research
Keywords
photorhabdus luminescens, TT01, sexual form, heterorhabditis bacteriophora
College
Life Sciences
Department
Microbiology and Molecular Biology
Abstract
Heterorhabditis bacteriophora and Photorhabdus luminescens are a symbiotically associated nematode/bacterium pair that act together as potent insect killers and have been cultured en masse for distribution as an insect control agent in agricultural settings. Heterorhabditis is a nematode species that acts as a vector to penetrate the insect exoskeleton through existing openings where it subsequently releases Photorhabdus, the bacterial symbiont that it carries in its gut, into the haemocoel of the invaded insect. The bacteria produce a variety of proteases and toxins that digest the insides of the insect into nutrients they use as they rapidly replicate. The nematode then feeds on the proliferating bacteria until all available nutrients are used up. In an unknown process the nematode eventually “saves” some of the bacteria, upon which it has been feeding, in its gut and leaves the nutrient depleted cadaver in search of a new insect host.
Recommended Citation
Chaston, John and Adams, Dr. Byron
(2013)
"The Secondary Phase of Photorhabdus luminescens TT01 Is Closely Tied to the Sexual Form of Heterorhabditis bacteriophora,"
Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2013:
Iss.
1, Article 1211.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2013/iss1/1211