Comparative analysis of the susceptibility/tolerance of Spodoptera littoralis to Vip3Aa, Vip3Ae, Vip3Ad and Vip3Af toxins of Bacillus thuringiensis

[Display omitted] •Vip3Aa, Vip3Ad, Vip3Ae and Vip3Af proteins were tested against S. littoralis larvae.•Activation of Vip3A protoxins by S. littoralis gut juice generates four major bands.•Vip3A toxins bind to proteins with different sizes in the BBMV of S. littoralis.•Vip3Aa, Vip3Ae and Vip3Af cause brush border membrane lysis in the midgut of larvae. The cotton leaf worm Spodoptera littoralis is known for causing serious damages to various crops. In this study, the susceptibility/tolerance of this larvae to four Vip3A (Vip3Aa, Vip3Ae, Vip3Ad and Vip3Af) toxins was investigated. UnlikeVip3Ad which showed no activity to S. littoralis, Vip3Aa, Vip3Ae and Vip3Af exhibited high toxicity to this larva with LC50 of 228.42 ng/cm2, 65.71 ng/cm2, and 388.90 ng/cm2, respectively. Activation of the 90 kDa Vip3A proteins by S. littoralis larvae juice generated four major bands of sizes 62, 45, 33 and 22 kDa. Binding experiments between biotinylated Vip3A toxins and the brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV) revealed two binding proteins of 55 and 100 kDa with Vip3Aa. Vip3Ae and Vip3Af recognized one single putative receptor of 65 kDa, whereas Vip3Ad did not bind to S. littoralis BBMV. In histopathological observations, Vip3Aa, Vip3Ae and Vip3Af toxins showed approximately similar damages on S. littoralis midgut including rupture and disintegration of epithelial layer and cellular vacuolization. These findings showed that Vip3Aa, Vip3Ae and Vip3Af might be useful for controlling S. littoralis.