An intracellular toxic protein (Xin) isolated from Xenorhabdus nematophilus strain BJ

An intracellular toxic protein, designated Xin and with remarkable inhibitory effect on growth of Helicoverpa armigera, was isolated from X. Nematophilus strain BJ by ion exchange chromatography and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. After placing neonates on the artificial diet containing Xin at concentration of 0 or 3.48μg/g for 7 days, the average weight of insects was 23.50mg and 0.55mg, respectively. The activity of Xin was lost by heating, freeze-drying, digestion with proteases or urea. The Xin molecular weight, over kD, was determined by gel filtration on Superose 12, and there were six component proteins analyzed by SDS-PAGE. The results show that Xin is a high molecular protein complex inhibiting growth of insect pest.