The recent invasion of the Japanese beetle Popillia japonica Newman (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in northern Italy offered opportunity to explore entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) associated with soil hay meadows. A total 61 sites were considered for nematode sampling, and from 17 them (27.9%) EPNs isolated further characterized molecular morphological techniques as well laboratory bioassays. Two...

Xenorhabdus nematophila, an entomopathogenic bacterium that symbiotically associates with the entomoparasitic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae, was studied to determine its physiological parameters of glucose utilization. X. nematophila was cultured in chemically defined media containing various concentrations of glucose under optimal conditions utilizing a two-liter fermentation system. Specif...

T he gram-negative bacterium Xenorhabdus nematophila engages in a mutualistic relationship with a specific soil nematode and also can mount potent pathogenic attacks on a variety of insects. During its mutualisticpathogenic life cycle, Xenorhabdus produces a wide range of exoenzymes, antimicrobial and nematicidal compounds, and insect toxins. Moreover, the nematode-bacteria complex is useful fo...

We examined inheritance of resistance, feeding behavior, and fitness costs for a laboratory-selected strain of western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), with resistance to maize (Zea maize L.) producing the Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bt) toxin Cry3Bb1. The resistant strain developed faster and had increased survival on Bt maize relative to ...

The tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta, is a model lepidopteran insect used to study the pathogenic and mutualistic phases of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) and their bacterial symbionts. While intestinal microbial communities could potentially compete with the EPN and its bacterial partner for nutrient resources of the insect, the microbial gut community had not been characterized previously. ...

Serine proteases form one of the most important families of enzymes and perform significant functions in a broad range of biological processes, such as intra- and extracellular protein metabolism, digestion, blood coagulation, regulation of development, and fertilization. A number of serine proteases have been identified in parasitic helminths that have putative roles in parasite development an...