This study tested a hypothesis that the bacterial immunosuppresants enhance BtI susceptibility of two mosquitoes, the forest mosquito (Aedes albopictus) and the house mosquito (Culex pipiens pallens). Three symbiotic bacteria Xenorhabdus nematophila (Xn), X. hominickii (Xh), and Photorhabdus temperata subsp. temperata (Ptt) were isolated from their symbiotic nematodes and cultured in nutrient broth to allow them to produce the secondary metabolites. BtI gave significant toxicities to A. albopictus and C. pipiens pallens larvae: 50% of lethal concentration to be 2.9 × 105 spores/mL and 2.2 × 105 spores/mL at 16 h after treatment, respectively. Addition of each bacteria-cultured broth significantly enhanced BtI toxicity to the mosquito larvae by lowering LC50 values of BtI to A. albopictus larvae (1.5 × 105 to Xn, 1.7 × 105 to Xh, and 1.9 × 105 to Ptt, respectively) and to C. pipiens pallens larvae (1.2 × 105 to Xn, 1.3 × 105 to Xh, and 1.5 × 105 to Ptt, respectively). Based on these results, we developed a new mosquitocidal Bt formulation called ‘Dip-Kill’, which consisted of 80% Xn-cultured broth, 10% BtI (1010 spores/mL), and 10% preservative. Only 400 ppm of Dip-Kill showed 100% mortality to fourth instar larvae of A. albopictus and C. pipiens pallens 16 h after treatment.

An entomopathogenic bacterium, Xenorhabdus nematophila, secretes at least eight bacterial metabolites, which have suppressive effects on insect immunity. This study quantified their sequential production during bacterial growth and analyzed their individual immunosuppressive activities against an insect host, Spodoptera exigua. X. nematophila exhibited a typical bacterial growth in both insect host and culture medium, in which eight metabolites were secreted in different time points. At early growth phase (6 to 12 h), Ac-FGV, Cis-cPY, PHPP and indole metabolites were detected in the culture broth. During early growth phase, PHPP was highly potent to inhibit phenoloxidase activity as well as nodule formation. At late growth phase (24 to 48 h), BZA, HPA, PY were detected at 10 – 140 ppm in the culture broth, their metabolites were highly potent to inhibit phospholipase A2 and to induce cytotoxicity to hemocytes. These results suggest that X. nematophila sequentially produces the immune suppressive metabolites, which cooperatively inhibit different steps of insect immune responses.

An entomopathogenic bacteria, Xenorhabdus nematophila (Xn) and Photorhabdus temperata subsp temperata (Ptt), suppresses insect immune responses and facilitates its symbiotic nematode development in target insect. Benzylideneacetone (BZA), PY, cPY, Ac-FGV, indole, 2-oxindole and 3-(4-hydroxyphenylpropionic) acid (PHPP) were compounds derived from the bacterial. Their immunosuppressive activities have been induced by inhibitory activity against eicosanoid biosynthesis and used to develop an additive to enhance control efficacy of other commercial microbial insecticides. This study investigated any cytotoxicity of their culture broth and bacterial metabolites on Spodoptera exigua hemocyte. When Xn or Ptt (<100 cells per larva) were injected to larval of S. exigua, the bacteria increased in density with incubation time, while the insent hemocyte numbers significantly and the resulting culture broths were sampled for analysis of their cytotoxicity against S. exigua hemocytes. In addition, the sequential culture broth samples were analyzed in active component chemicals using a reverse phase HPLC. Finally, seven bacterial metabolites were analyzed in relative cytotoxicity against S. exigua. These results suggest that BZA is a major cytotoxic compound.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a bacterial biopesticide against insect pests, mainly lepidopterans. Spodoptera exigua and Plutella xylostella exhibit significant decreases in Bt susceptibility in late larval instars. To enhance Bt pathogenicity, we used a mixture treatment of Bt and other bacterial metabolites which possessed significant immunosuppressive activities. Mixtures of Bt with culture broths of Xenorhabdus nematophila (Xn) or Photorhabdus temperata ssp. temperata (Ptt) significantly enhanced the Bt pathogenicity against late larval instars. Different ratios of Bt to bacterial culture broth had significant pathogenicities against last instar P. xylostella and S. exigua. Five compounds identified from the bacterial culture broth also enhanced Bt pathogenicity. After determining the optimal ratios, the mixture was applied to cabbage infested by late ins tar P. xylostella or S. exigua in greenhouse conditions. A mixture of Bt and Xn culture broth killed 100% of both insect pests when it was sprayed twice, while Bt alone killed less than 80% or 60% of P. xylostella and S. exigua, respectively. Other Bt mixtures, including Ptt culture broth or bacterial metabolites, also significantly increased pathogenicity in the semi-field assays. These results demonstrated that the Bt mixtures collectively names 'Bt-Plus' can be developed into potent biopesticides to increase the efficacy of Bt.

An entomopathogenic bacterium, Photorhabdus temperata ssp. temperata (Ptt), suppresses insect immune responses and facilitates its symbiotic nematode development in target insects. The immunosuppressive activity of Ptt enhances pathogenicity of various microbial pesticides including Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). This study was performed to select a cheap and efficient bacterial culture medium for large scale culturing of the bacteria. Relatively cheap industrial bacterial culture media (MY and M2) were compared to two research media, Luria-Bertani (LB) and tryptic soy broth (TSB). In all tested media, a constant initial population of Ptt multiplied and reached a stationary phase at 48 h. However, more bacterial colony densities were detected in LB and TSB at the stationary phase compared to two industrial media. All bacterial culture broth gave significant synergism to Bt pathogenicity against third instars of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella. Production of bacterial metabolites extracted by either hexane or ethyl acetate did not show any significant difference in total mass among four culture media. Reverse phase HPLC separated the four bacterial metabolites, which were not much different in quantities among four bacterial culture broths. This study suggests that two industrial bacterial culture media can be used to economically culture Ptt in a large scale.