Molecular and Phenotypic Characterization of Two Bacteria, Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. Akhurstii HRM1 and HS1 Isolated from Two Entomopathogenic Nematodes, Heterorhabditis indica RM1 and Heterorhabditis sp. S1
The present study was aimed at molecular and phenotypic characterization of two new bacterial
strains isolated from entomopathogenic nematodes, Heterorhabditis indica RM1 from Alexandria,
northern Egypt and Heterorhabditis sp. S1 from RasSidr, South Sinai, eastern Egypt. These
entomopathogenic bacteria secrete lethal toxins that rapidly kill the insect host within 48h. They also
produce various antibiotics that suppress infection by other microorganisms. Three complementary
approaches including16S rRNA gene sequencing, phenotypic and phylogenetic analysis by
maximum likelihood method and chemical characterization, were used to identify these new isolates.
Current investigations revealed that these two isolates had noteworthy differences, particularly in
their antibiotic production spectrum from P. luminescens subsp. akhurstii 1S5; however, they
maintain the major characters that define them from other species. A minor difference from regular
P. luminescens subsp. akhurstii was obtained by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, which resulted in two
new type strains: Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. akhurstii HRM1KC237382 and Photorhabdus
luminescens subsp. akhurstii HS1KC237383.
Aedes aegypti (Culicidae), the mosquito that causes yellow fever, is regarded as a significant vector for
many disease agents. The current study sought to learn more about mosquito mid-gut…