• BMB Reports
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.773-782
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• 2007

Different isolates of the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis produce multiple crystal (Cry) proteins toxic to a variety of insects, nematodes and protozoans. These insecticidal Cry toxins are known to be active against specific insect orders, being harmless to mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles. Due to these characteristics, genes encoding several Cry toxins have been engineered in order to be expressed by a variety of crop plants to control insectpests. The cotton boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis, and the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, are the major economically devastating pests of cotton crop in Brazil, causing severe losses, mainly due to their endophytic habit, which results in damages to the cotton boll and floral bud structures. A cry1Ia-type gene, designated cry1Ia12, was isolated and cloned from the Bt S811 strain. Nucleotide sequencing of the cry1Ia12 gene revealed an open reading frame of 2160 bp, encoding a protein of 719 amino acid residues in length, with a predicted molecular mass of 81 kDa. The amino acid sequence of Cry1Ia12 is 99% identical to the known Cry1Ia proteins and differs from them only in one or two amino acid residues positioned along the three domains involved in the insecticidal activity of the toxin. The recombinant Cry1Ia12 protein, corresponding to the cry1Ia12 gene expressed in Escherichia coli cells, showed moderate toxicity towards first instar larvae of both cotton boll weevil and fall armyworm. The highest concentration of the recombinant Cry1Ia12 tested to achieve the maximum toxicities against cotton boll weevil larvae and fall armyworm larvae were 230 ${\mu}g/mL$ and 5 ${\mu}g/mL$, respectively. The herein demonstrated insecticidal activity of the recombinant Cry1Ia12 toxin against cotton boll weevil and fall armyworm larvae opens promising perspectives for the genetic engineering of cotton crop resistant to both these devastating pests in Brazil.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.1498-1503
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• 2007

To identify novel crystal proteins, Bacillus thuringiensis 2385-1 was isolated from Korean soil samples and characterized. The H-serotype of 2385-1 was identical to that of subsp. kenyae (H4a4c), and its crystal toxin was bipyramidal-shaped. However, 2385-1 showed a much higher toxicity towards Plutella xylostella and Spodoptera exigua larvae than subsp. kenyae. In addition, the crystal protein profile and plasmid DNA pattern of 2385-1 differed from those of subsp. kenyae. To verify the crystal protein gene types of 2385-1, a PCR-RFLP analysis was performed, and the results revealed that 2385-1 contained two novel cry1-type crystal protein genes, cryl-5 and cry1-12, in addition to the crylJal gene. The deduced amino acid sequences of cryl-5 and cry1-12 showed a 97.9% and 75.7% sequence similarity with the CrylAb and CrylJa crystal proteins, respectively. Among the novel crystal proteins, Cry1-5 showed a high toxicity towards P. xylostella and S. exigua larvae. In conclusion, B. thuringiensis 2385-1 is a new isolate in terms of its gene types, and should be a promising source for an insecticide to control lepidopteran larvae.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.1223-1229
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• 2009

To construct a new recombinant strain of Bacillus velezensis that has antifungal and insecticidal activity via the expression of the insecticidal Bacillus thuringiensis crystal protein, a B. thuringiensis expression vector (pHT1K-1Ac) was generated that contained the B. thuringiensis cry1Ac gene under the control of its endogenous promoter in a minimal E. coli-B. thuringiensis shuttle vector (pHT1K). This vector was introduced into a B. velezensis isolate that showed high antifungal activities against several plant diseases, including rice blast (Magnaporthe grisea), rice sheath blight (Rhizotonia solani), tomato gray mold (Botrytis cinerea), tomato late blight (Phytophthora infestans), and wheat leaf rust (Puccinia recondita), by electroporation. The recombinant B. velezensis strain was confirmed by PCR using cry1Ac-specific primers. Additionally, the recombinant strain produced a protein approximately 130 kDa in size and parasporal inclusion bodies similar to B. thuringiensis. The in vivo antifungal activity assay demonstrated that the activity of the recombinant B. velezensis strain was maintained at the same level as that of wild-type B. velezensis. Furthermore, it exhibited high insecticidal activity against a lepidopteran pest, Plutella xylostella, although its activity was lower than that of a recombinant B. thuringiensis strain, whereas wild-type B. velezensis strain did not show any insecticidal activity. These results suggest that this recombinant B. velezensis strain can be used to control harmful insect pests and fungal diseases simultaneously in one crop.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.772-776
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• 2004

Physiological and molecular characteristics of Bacillus thuringiensis SR6 and SR8 were investigated, and phase contrast and electron microscopies revealed that a large rhomboidal crystal protein was present in the sporulating cells. SDS-PAGE and Western blot analyses showed that B. thuringiensis SR8 produced 70 kDa protein much more than other proteins, and that the 70 kDa protein could bind to the antibody of B. thuringiensis subsp. tenebrionis-crystal toxin protein, indicating that the crystal 70 kDa protein has an immunological homology with B. thuringiensis subsp. tenebrionis-crystal toxin protein. The DNA fragment of B. thuringiensis subsp. tenebrionis-toxin gene was detected in B. thuringiensis SR6 and SR8 by using PCR amplification analysis. Furthermore, the insect bioassay showed the insecticidal activity against Colorado potato beetle larvae. Based on the physiological and molecular similarities to B. thuringiensis subsp. tenebrionis, it is suggested that the B. thuringiensis SR6 and SR8 may be mutants of the B. thuringiensis subsp. tenebrionis strain overexpressing the crystal of 70 kDa toxin protein.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.394-402
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• 2019

The Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated gene transfer is widely used to generate genetic transformation of plants and transient assay of temporal exogenous gene expression. Syringe infiltration system into tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana) leaves is a powerful tool for transient expression of target protein to study protein localization, protein-protein binding and protein production. However, the protocol and technical information of transient gene expression, especially double strand RNA (dsRNA), in tobacco using Agrobacterium is not well known. Recently, dsRNA is crucial for insecticidal effect on destructive agronomic pest such as Corn rootworm. In this study, we investigated the factor influencing the dsRNA expression efficiency of syringe agro-infiltration in tobacco. To search the best combination for dsRNA transient expression in tobacco, applied two Agrobacterium cell lines and three plant vector systems. The efficiency of dsRNA expression has estimated by real-time PCR and digital PCR. As a result, pHellsgate12 vector constructs showed the most effective accumulation of dsRNA in the cell. These results indicated that the efficiency of dsRNA expression was depending on the kind of vector rather than Agrobacterium cells. In summary, the optimized combination of transient dsRNA expression system in tobacco might be useful to in vivo dsRNA expression for functional study and risk assessment of dsRNA.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.497-506
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• 1998

The expression in Escherichia coli of a cloned insecticidal protein (ICP) gene from Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki HD1 in pHLN1-80 (+) and pHLN2-80(-) plasmids was investigated through deletions in promoters, transcription start point, and termination region. Six recombinant plasmids were constructed in an attempt to analyze the overexpression of the ICP in relations to its gene structure. The amounts of ICP produced from the recombinants were measured by SDS-PAGE and confirmed by Western blot analysis. One clone was not overexpressed which having only -80 bp (contained BtI promoter) part of the ICP gene promoter (without Plac promoter), the right-oriented ICP gene and the termination region. Removal of 350 bp from upstream region of the Plac of the clone pHLN2-80 (-) resulted in overexpression of the ICP. One clone was not overexpressed in which the clone consisted of -72 bp part of the ICP promoter without the transcription start point and the transcriptional termination region, and having the right-oriented ICP gene sequence. One clone consisting of the inverted ICP gene sequence, the -72 bp ICP gene promoter, and without the termination region caused overexpression. One clone which consisted of the inverted ICP gene, the -72 bp ICP gene promoter and the termination sequence was overexpressed. These results indicated that the Plac promoter, transcription termination region, the inverted ICP gene insertion, and the -80 bp or -72 bp part of the ICP gene promoters were concerned in the overexpression of the ICP gene in the recombinant plasmid, and also the overexpression mechanism might result from the disruption of the transcription-suppressing regions in the promoter regions.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.57-61
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• 2005

A strain of Bacillus thuringiensis that showed signifi­cantly high toxicity to Plutella xylostella was isolated from a dust sample collected from Chinese tobacco warehouse and characterized. The isolate named B. thuringiensis LY-99 was determined to belong to subsp. alesti (H3a3c) by an H antisera agglutination test and produced bipyramidal inclusions. Plasmid and crystal protein patterns of the LY-99 were different from those of the reference strain, subsp. alesti. PCR analysis with specific primers revealed that this isolate contained abundant cry genes including crylAa, crylAc, crylB, crylD, crylE, crylF and cry2 genes, which was absolutely different from cry gene profile of the subsp. alesti. In addition, insecticidal activity of the LY-99 against P. xylostella larvae was about 44 times higher than that of the subsp. alesti.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.35-41
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• 2004

Bacillus thuringiensis produces crystal proteins toxic to medically and agriculturally important pests during sporulation. To improve the activity of insecticidal crystal protein in applying to mosquito larval control, an expression vector, pSyn4D harboring the mosquitocidal cry11Aa gene under control of psbA promoter of Amaranthus hybridus was constructed. This expression vector was transformed into Synechocystis PCC6803 and a transformant, Tr2C was selected with kanamycin. The mosquitocidal cry11Aa gene was stably integrated Into genomic DNA of Tr2C in PCR detection using cry11Aa-specific primers. The transformant expressed 72-kDa Cry11Aa protein and median lethal time (LT$\sub$50/) was approximately 2.1 days for Culex tritaeniorhynchus larvae and 0.7 day for Anopheles sinensis larvae, respectively. These results suggest this transformant can be used for mosquito larval control as a biological control agent.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.351-359
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• 2014

For identifying the plasmid DNA coding cry gene of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. aizawai KB098 with high insecticidal activity against Spodoptera exigua, mutant isolates with no crystal protein were produced by $42^{\circ}C$ incubation condition and then mutant plasmid DNA band patterns were compared with those of KB098. KB098 isolates had 4 cry genes, cry1Aa, cry1Ab, cry1C, cry1D, and also had been found seven plasmid DNA. Though the SDS-PAGE experiment, it was confirmed that mutant didn't produce 130~145kDa protein band involved in bipyramidal shape crystal. Also, five mutant isolates had no cry genes coding plasmid DNA in PCR. In result of comparison the plasmid DNA of KB098 and 5 mutant isolates, only 1 plasmid DNA band was left out in mutant plasmid DNA pattern, so that the missing band was extracted from the gel. The missing(disappeared) plasmid DNA was the largest molecular size among the 7 plasmid DNA of KB098 and it was also confirmed this plasmid DNA had all 4 cry genes through PCR.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.1092-1096
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• 2008

Commercial food products from major cities of Coahuila, Mexico were screened to identify residues of transgenic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and/or proteins. After performed, an inventory on all products that contained a soybean-based ingredient in a commercial grocery store in the city of Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico, 245 food products were identified and grouped in 15 classes according to the soybean ingredient as well as the manufacturing process used for their elaboration. Similar sampling was made for the different food classes in the cities of Monclova, Piedras Negras, and Torreon. A total of 88 samples were analyzed and DNA was extracted by the hexadecyltrimethyl-ammonium bromide (CTAB) technique with slight modification to obtain better DNA quality (1). In addition, segments of the transgenic genes one that codifies for 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (epsps), cry 1A, and the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) promoter were amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The transgenic proteins 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (CP4 EPSPS) and insecticidal crystal protein (Cry 1Ab/Ac) were identified using double antibody sandwich-enzymatic linked immunoassay analysis (DAS-ELISA). Presence of transgenic genes and/or proteins was identified in 35.3% of the commercial products samples.