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Identification of the minimal active fragment of the Cry1Ah toxin

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Abstract

cry1Ah1, a novel holo-type gene cloned from Bacillus thuringiensis strain BT-8, encoded a protein exhibiting strong insecticidal activity against lepidopteran insects. To identify the minimal active fragment of the Cry1Ah toxin, 9 pairs of primers were designed to generate different PCR products. Seven PCR products were amplified by different primers using the cry1Ah1 gene as a template and cloned into a pET-21b vector. These positive clones were separately transformed into Escherichia coli. Insecticidal activity against 2nd-instar larvae of Plutella xylostella was performed using the leaf-dip bioassay: the minimal active fragment of the Cry1Ah toxin was located between amino acid residues 50I and 639E.

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Acknowledgments

This study was support by the 973 Projects of China (2009CB118902 and 2007CB109203) and National S&T Major project (2008ZX08001-001). We thank Ms. Yingping Liang for insect rearing and bioassays.

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Correspondence to Jie Zhang.

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Xue, J., Zhou, Z., Song, F. et al. Identification of the minimal active fragment of the Cry1Ah toxin. Biotechnol Lett 33, 531–537 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-010-0452-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-010-0452-0

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