It was reported that the highly conserved C-terminal region of Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1A protoxins was very important for parasporal crystal formation and solubility feature in alkaline environment. In order to improve the solubilization efficiency of Cry2Aa crystal, the coding sequences of Cry2Aa protein and the C-terminal half of Cry1Ac were fused seamlessly through Red/ET homologous recombination and expressed in an acrystalliferous B. thuringiensis strain under the control of the cry1Ac promoter and terminator. Microscopic observation revealed that the recombinant strain containing the chimeric gene cry2Aa-1Ac produced distinct parasporal inclusion with semispherical to approximately cuboidal shape during sporulation. SDS-PAGE analysis showed that this strain expressed stable 130-kDa Cry2Aa-1Ac chimeric protein, which was confirmed to be the correctly expressed product by LC-MS/MS. The chimeric protein inclusion could be effectively dissolved at pH 10.5 and activated by trypsin like the parental Cry1Ac crystal. While, the parental Cry2Aa crystal exhibited very low solubility under this condition. Bioassays against third-instar larvae of Helicoverpa armigera proved that the chimeric protein was more toxic than Cry2Aa. Additionally, synergistic effect was clearly detected between the chimeric protein and Cry1Ac against H. armigera, while there was only additive effect for the combination of wild Cry2Aa and Cry1Ac. These results indicated that the developed chimeric protein might serve as a potent insecticidal toxin used in the field against lepidopteran pests.
Keywords: Bacillus thuringiensis; C-terminal half of Cry1Ac; Chimeric protein; Cry2Aa; Helicoverpa armigera; Synergistic activity.