CELL SURFACE PROTEIN OF BACILLUS SPHAERICUS

球形芽孢杆菌（Bacillus sphaericus）存款的细菌具有高分子量 细胞外表面的蛋白质。 在某些菌株中， 显示亚基的规则阵列（RS或T层），但在其他菌株中， 蛋白质层是不规则结构的（NRS层）。 后者 对于所有对蚊子致病的菌株，情况都是如此 幼虫 这些致病菌株中的一些产生了一种强有力的 当局正考虑研制一种对付蚊幼虫的毒素 杀幼虫剂 它们可能为控制 病媒传播的疾病。 这个项目的总体目标是检查一些 细胞上高分子量NRS蛋白的特性 表面有多株蚊虫致病株B。球形的。 这 将通过比较蛋白质的分子量来完成， 电泳，通过等电聚焦测定其等电点，和 通过肽图谱分析它们的组成。 NRS蛋白也将被 与来自其他选定菌株的RS蛋白相比。 的作用 将研究蛋白质作为噬菌体吸附位点。 一 假设是要测试的是，NRS蛋白是吸附 噬菌体分型方案中使用的10种噬菌体的位点， 表面蛋白将被生物化学地和/或免疫学地 在噬菌体群之间是可区分的。 坚持的特异性， 存在于NRS蛋白和潜在的肽聚糖球囊之间 也将被确定。 该项目是长期计划的一部分， 更好地理解这些结构与功能的关系 细菌 表面蛋白质可能在决定 这些细菌在消耗的昆虫幼虫中的生存和/或生长 他们 这些蛋白质也可能是重要的，在实践方面， 将细菌制成杀幼虫剂。

Bacteria of the species Bacillus sphaericus deposit a high molecular weight protein on the outer surface of the cell. In some strains this protein displays a regular array of subunits (RS or T layer), but in other strains the protein layer is non-regularly structured (NRS layer). The latter situation is true for all of the strains which are pathogenic for mosquito larvae. Some of these pathogenic strains which produce a potent and very specific toxin against mosquito larvae are being considered for development as larvicides. They may provide a useful new tool for the control of vector borne diseases. The overall goal of this project is to examine some of the properties of the high molecular weight NRS protein on the cell surface of a number of mosquito pathogenic strains of B. sphaericus. This will be done by comparing melecular weights of the proteins by electrophoresis, their isoelectric points by isoelectric focusing, and their composition by peptide mapping. The NRS proteins will also be compared to RS proteins from other selected strains. The role of the proteins as bacteriophage adsorption sites will be investigated. A hypothesis is to be tested is that the NRS proteins are the adsorption sites for 10 bacteriophages used in a phage typing scheme and that the surface proteins will be biochemically and or immunologically distinguishable among the phage groups. The specificity of adherence that exists between the NRS protein and the underlying peptidoglycan sacculus will also be determined. This project is part of the long range plan to obtain a better understanding of structure-function relationships in these bacteria. The surface proteins may be important in determining the survival and/or growth of these bacteria in insect larvae which consume them. The proteins may also be important in practical aspects of formulating the bacteria into larvicides.