Lipopeptides from Bacillus velezensis ZLP-101 and their mode of action against bean aphids Acyrthosiphon pisum Harris

Background Natural products are important sources for the discovery of new biopesticides to control the worldwide destructive pests Acyrthosiphon pisum Harris .

Here, insecticidal substances were discovered and characterized from the secondary metabolites of the bio-control microorganism Bacillus velezensis strain ZLP-101, as informed by whole-genome sequencing and analysis.

Results The genome was annotated, revealing the presence of four potentially novel gene clusters and eight known secondary metabolite synthetic gene clusters.

Crude extracts, prepared through ammonium sulfate precipitation, were used to evaluate the effects of strain ZLP-101 on Acyrthosiphon pisum Harris aphid pests via exposure experiments.

The half lethal concentration (LC50) of the crude extract from strain ZLP-101 against aphids was 411.535 mg/L. Preliminary exploration of the insecticidal mechanism revealed that the crude extract affected aphids to a greater extent through gastric poisoning than through contact.

Further, the extracts affected enzymatic activities, causing holes to form in internal organs along with deformation, such that normal physiological activities could not be maintained, eventually leading to death.

Isolation and purification of extracellular secondary metabolites were conducted in combination with mass spectrometry analysis to further identify the insecticidal components of the crude extracts.

A total of 15 insecticidal active compounds were identified including iturins, fengycins, surfactins, and spergualins.

Further insecticidal experimentation revealed that surfactin, iturin, and fengycin all exhibited certain aphidicidal activities, and the three exerted synergistic lethal effects.

Conclusions This study improved the available genomic resources for B. velezensis and serves as a foundation for comprehensive studies of the insecticidal mechanism by Bacillus velezensis ZLP-101 in addition to the active components within biological control strains.