Nigritoxin is a bacterial toxin for crustaceans and insects

Type Article
Date 2017-11
Language English
Author(s) Labreuche Yannick1, 2, Chenivesse Sabine2, Jeudy Alexandra2, Le Panse Sophie3, Boulo VivianeORCID4, Ansquer Dominique4, Pages Sylvie5, Givaudan Alain5, Czjzek Mirjam2, Le Roux Frederique1, 2
Affiliation(s) 1 : IFREMER, Unite Physiol Fonct Organismes Marins, ZI Pointe Diable, CS 10070, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
2 : UPMC Paris 06, CNRS, Sorbonne Univ, UMR 8227,Integrat Biol Marine Models,Stn Biol Ros, CS 90074, F-29688 Roscoff, France.
3 : CNRS, Stn Biol Roscoff, FR 2424,Pl Georges Teissier,CS 90074, F-29688 Roscoff, France.
4 : IFREMER, Dept Lagons Ecosyst & Aquaculture Durables Nouvel, BP 2059, Noumea 98846, New Caledonia.
5 : Univ Montpellier 2, UMR Diversite Genomes & Interact Microorganismes, 2 Pl Eugene Bataillon, F-34095 Montpellier 5, France.
Source Nature Communications (2041-1723) (Nature Publishing Group), 2017-11 , Vol. 8 , N. 1 , P. 1248 (1-9)
DOI 10.1038/s41467-017-01445-z
WOS© Times Cited 7
Abstract

The Tetraconata (Pancrustacea) concept proposes that insects are more closely related to aquatic crustaceans than to terrestrial centipedes or millipedes. The question therefore arises whether insects have kept crustacean-specific genetic traits that could be targeted by specific toxins. Here we show that a toxin (nigritoxin), originally identified in a bacterial pathogen of shrimp, is lethal for organisms within the Tetraconata and non-toxic to other animals. X-ray crystallography reveals that nigritoxin possesses a new protein fold of the α/β type. The nigritoxin N-terminal domain is essential for cellular translocation and likely encodes specificity for Tetraconata. Once internalized by eukaryotic cells, nigritoxin induces apoptotic cell death through structural features that are localized in the C-terminal domain of the protein. We propose that nigritoxin will be an effective means to identify a Tetraconata evolutionarily conserved pathway and speculate that nigritoxin holds promise as an insecticidal protein.

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How to cite 

Labreuche Yannick, Chenivesse Sabine, Jeudy Alexandra, Le Panse Sophie, Boulo Viviane, Ansquer Dominique, Pages Sylvie, Givaudan Alain, Czjzek Mirjam, Le Roux Frederique (2017). Nigritoxin is a bacterial toxin for crustaceans and insects. Nature Communications, 8(1), 1248 (1-9). Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01445-z , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00408/51934/