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Enhancement of Bacillus thuringiensis insecticidal activity by combining Cry1Ac and bi-functional toxin HWTX-XI from
Yunjun Sun1, Zujiao Fu2, Xiaohong He1
1College of Life Science, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, PR China.
Abstract:
In order to assess the potency of bi-functional HWTX-XI toxin from spider Ornithoctonus huwena in improving the insecticidal activity of Bacillus thuringiensis, a fusion gene of cry1Ac and hwtx-XI was constructed and expressed in an acrystalliferous B. thuringiensis strain Cry(-)B. Western blot analysis and microscopic observation revealed that the recombinant strain could express 140-kDa Cry1Ac-HWTX-XI fusion protein and produce parasporal inclusions during sporulation. Bioassay using the larvae of Helicoverpa armigera and Spodoptera exigua showed that the Cry1Ac-HWTX-XI fusion was more toxic than the control Cry1Ac protoxin, as revealed by 95% lethal concentration. Our study indicated that the HWTX-XI from spider might be a candidate for enhancing the toxicity of B. thuringiensis products.
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