Binding of Bacillus thuringiensis proteins to a laboratory-selected line of Heliothis virescens

A laboratory-selected colony of Heliothis virescens displaying a 20- to 70-fold level of resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis proteins was evaluated to identify mechanism(s) of resistance. Brush-border membrane vesicles were isolated from larval midgut epithelium from the susceptible and resistant strains of H. virescens. Two B. thuringiensis proteins, CryIA(b) and CryIA(c), were iodinated and shown to specifically bind to brush-border membrane vesicles of both insect strains. Multiple changes in the receptor-binding parameters were seen in the resistant strain as compared with the susceptible strain. A 2- to 4-fold reduction in binding affinity was accompanied by a 4- to 6-fold increase in binding-site concentration for both proteins. Although these two B. thuringiensis proteins competed for the same high-affinity binding site, competition experiments revealed different receptor specificity toward these proteins in the resistant H. virescens line. The H. virescens strains were not sensitive to a coleopteran-active protein, CryIIIA, nor did these proteins compete with the CryIA proteins for binding. Complexity of the mechanism of resistance is consistent with the complex mode of action of B. thuringiensis proteins.