Abstract
Bacillus thuringiensis is a well-known species of entomophathogenic bacteria that is widely used as a biopesticide against many insect pests. It produces parasporal crystals ($\delta$-endotoxin) and endospores during sporulation. In this report, the $\delta$-endotoxin produced by Bacillus thuringiensis BT-1 and BT-2 were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscope(SEM), Transmission Electron Microscope(TEM), SDS-PACE, and solubilization activity by alkaline solution. BT-1, BT-2 were cultured in the GBY medium, and the $\delta$-endotoxin of them was purified with discontinuous sucrose density gradient centrifugation. Their $\delta$-endotoxin was observed by SEM and TEM. Morphologically, the $\delta$-endotoxin of BT-1 was a square and flat type, whose size was $1.73{\mu}m{\times}0.7{\mu}m$, and the $\delta$-endotoxin of the BT-2 was spherical form whose size was $1.1{\mu}m{\times}0.9{\mu}m$ determined by SEM and TEM. The $\delta$-endotoxin of the BT-1 was composed of 28 kDa and 21 kDa, however, it of the BT-2 was composed of 50 kDa, 35 kDa, and 22 kDa bands determined by SDS-PACE. The purified crystals of BT-1 and BT-2 were dissolved gradually in alkaline solution as time goes by, and it was perfectly dissolved after 3 hours. It is supposed that the $\delta$-endotoxin of crystal was converted to a state of activation in the course of time in the intestines of insect.
B. thuringiensis는 많은 해로운 곤충들을 박멸시키는데 널리 사용되는 생물학적 살충제로 잘 알려져 있다. 그것은 측포자 형태의 결정체($\delta$-내독소)를 생산하고 내생포자들을 형성한다. 본 논문에서는 B. thuringiensis BT-1과 BT-2에 의해 생산되는 내독소의 특성을 주사전자현미경(SEM), 투과전자현미경(TEM), SDS-PACE, 알칼리 용액에서의 용해 활성을 통하여 규명하였다. BT-1, BT-2 균주는 GBY 배지에서 배양되었고, 두 균주의 내독소는 당밀도구배법을 이용하여 정제되어, 주사전자현미경(SEM), 투과전자현미경(TEM)으로 관찰하였다. 형태학적으로, BT-1의 내독소는 사각형 및 납작형이고 크기는 $1.73{\mu}m{\times}0.7{\mu}m$, 그리고 BT-2 내독소는 구형이며 $1.1{\mu}m$, 폭이 $0.9{\mu}m$인 것으로 밝혀졌다. SDS-PACE 방법으로 분석한 결과, BT-1의 분자량은 28 kDa, 21 kDa, 반면에 BT-2의 분자량은 50 kDa, 35 kDa, 22 kDal으로 밴드가 형성되었다. 이들의 결정체는 알칼리 완충용액 내에서 시간에 지나감에 따라서 점차로 용해되었으며 3시간 후에는 거의 완전하게 용해되었다. 이 결과들을 통하여 BT1과 BT-2 결정체의 내독소가 곤충의 중장 내에서 시간이 흐름에 따라 비활성 상태에서 활성상태로 전환되는 것으로 보여진다.