Genome characterization of the novel Photorhabdus sp. Strain p32 isolated in Argentina from Galleria mellonella larvae

ZIMMERMANN J.A.; PALMA, L.; ACOSTA F.; FRIZZO L.S.; DEL VALLE, E.E.

Nelson Mandela Bay

Congreso; International Congress on Invertebrate Pathology and Microbial Control; 2022

Nematodes of the genus Heterorhabditis parasiteand kill insects, exhibiting the potential to be usedas biological control agents in crops of agriculturalrelevance. The genus Heterorhabditis is symbioticallyassociated with bacteria of the genus Photorhabdus(Enterobacteriaceae). These bacteria grow rapidlyand release insecticidal toxins that kill the insect hostthrough a combination of generalized toxemia andsepticemia. In addition, they can synthesize othersecondary metabolites aimed to inhibit the proliferationof other competing opportunistic microorganisms, thuspresenting an additional potential for biotechnologicalapplications. The aim of this work was to performthe genome sequencing of the symbiotic bacteriumPhotorhabdus sp. strain p32, isolated in Argentina fromGalleria mellonella larvae infested with Heterorhabditisamazonensis (Rhabditida: Heterorhabditidae). Thedraft genome sequence of this strain consisted of 247contig sequences accounting for 5,359,514 bp, with aG+C content of 42.5%, 5258 predicted protein-codingsequences (CDS) and 11 RNA genes. From these, 27CDS exhibited significant similarity with insecticidalproteins and 3 CDS with chitinases. We also found5 clusters for the production of biologically activesecondary metabolites. The genome analysis performedwith the Type (Strain) Genome Server showed that thisstrain likely belongs to a novel Photorhabdus species.In this work, we describe a novel Photorhabdus strainwhich will enlarge the current known species repertoryof the genus and will contribute to the availability ofnovel insecticidal proteins and other natural productswith interesting potential for biotechnology.