The Cry2Aa protein is not enough to pose a threat to Pardosa astrigera

Weijiao Liu; Qiqing Yu; Muhammad Nasir; Xiangzhen Zhu; Muhmmad Shahid Iqbal; Punniyakotti Elumalai; Li Wang; Kaixin Zhang; Dongyang Li; Jichao Ji; Junyu Luo; Jinjie Cui; Xueke Gao

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.140241

The Cry2Aa protein is not enough to pose a threat to Pardosa astrigera

Int J Biol Macromol. 2025 Jan 23:140241. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.140241. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Weijiao Liu¹, Qiqing Yu¹, Muhammad Nasir², Xiangzhen Zhu³, Muhmmad Shahid Iqbal⁴, Punniyakotti Elumalai⁵, Li Wang³, Kaixin Zhang³, Dongyang Li³, Jichao Ji³, Junyu Luo⁶, Jinjie Cui⁷, Xueke Gao⁸

Affiliations

¹ Zhengzhou Research Base, National Key Laboratory of Cotton Bio-breeding and Integrated Utilization, School of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan, China; National Key Laboratory of Cotton Bio-breeding and Integrated Utilization, Institute of Cotton Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anyang 455000, Henan, China; Western Agricultural Research Center, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changji 831100, China.
² Zhengzhou Research Base, National Key Laboratory of Cotton Bio-breeding and Integrated Utilization, School of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan, China; National Key Laboratory of Cotton Bio-breeding and Integrated Utilization, Institute of Cotton Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anyang 455000, Henan, China; Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute, Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
³ Zhengzhou Research Base, National Key Laboratory of Cotton Bio-breeding and Integrated Utilization, School of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan, China; National Key Laboratory of Cotton Bio-breeding and Integrated Utilization, Institute of Cotton Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anyang 455000, Henan, China.
⁴ National Key Laboratory of Cotton Bio-breeding and Integrated Utilization, Institute of Cotton Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anyang 455000, Henan, China; Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute, Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
⁵ National Key Laboratory of Cotton Bio-breeding and Integrated Utilization, Institute of Cotton Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anyang 455000, Henan, China.
⁶ Zhengzhou Research Base, National Key Laboratory of Cotton Bio-breeding and Integrated Utilization, School of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan, China; National Key Laboratory of Cotton Bio-breeding and Integrated Utilization, Institute of Cotton Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anyang 455000, Henan, China; Western Agricultural Research Center, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changji 831100, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁷ Zhengzhou Research Base, National Key Laboratory of Cotton Bio-breeding and Integrated Utilization, School of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan, China; National Key Laboratory of Cotton Bio-breeding and Integrated Utilization, Institute of Cotton Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anyang 455000, Henan, China; Western Agricultural Research Center, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changji 831100, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁸ Zhengzhou Research Base, National Key Laboratory of Cotton Bio-breeding and Integrated Utilization, School of Agricultural Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan, China; National Key Laboratory of Cotton Bio-breeding and Integrated Utilization, Institute of Cotton Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Anyang 455000, Henan, China; Western Agricultural Research Center, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changji 831100, China. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 39863222
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.140241

Abstract

The widespread commercialization of genetically modified (GM) crops makes it important to assess the potential impact of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) on non-target organisms. Pardosa astrigera is an important predator in agroforestry ecosystems, and female and male spiders may react differently to Bt toxins due to their different activity habits and nutritional requirements. In this study, we found that exposure to Cry2Aa protein did not affect the survival and body weight of P. astrigera during growth and development. However, according to 16S rRNA sequencing results of the P. astrigera adults, Cry2Aa protein not only changed the diversity of symbiont bacteria, but also changed its symbiont composition. During feeding on prey without Bt artificial feed, the dominant communities in female and male adults were Actinobacteria and Corynebacterium-1, respectively. Feeding on prey containing Cry2Aa protein, Firmicutes were the dominant phyla. At the genus level, Cry2Aa protein significantly increased the relative abundance of Enterococcus and became the dominant genus in females only. In addition, Bacillus, Weissella and other symbiotic bacteria had significant changes in females. In terms of species composition, sex differences resulted in the absence of different types of symbiotic bacteria. Functional analysis of enrichment pathways showed significant changes in various metabolic pathways such as "Carbohydrate metabolism" and "Nucleotide metabolism", and there are differences between the sexes. These findings provide new data information and support for revealing the different strategies of spiders to cope with Cry2Aa protein based on sex differences, and also provide new data information and support for environmental safety assessment of GM crops.

Keywords: 16S rRNA; Cry2Aa protein; Fitness; Symbiotic bacteria.