Objective: Construction and characterization of a spoIII D gene deletion mutant of Bacillus thuringiensis.
Methods: Scanning electron microscopy and spore formation analysis were used to detect the ability of sporulation and formation of crystal protein in both the mutant and the wild strain. SDS-PAGE analysis was used to detect the expression of crystal protein.
Results: Scanning electron microscopy and spore formation analysis showed that spores were hardly produced and the crystal existed in the spoIII D deletion strain. SDS-PAGE results showed that the expression of cry gene in the mutant was decreased in Luria-Bertani medium, but not affected obviously in Schaeffer's sporulation medium (SSM).
Conclusion: This indicated that the spoIII D gene was one of the essential genes for the sporulation of Bacillus thuringiensis, and influenced the expression of crystal protein.