The expression of a recombinant cry1Ac gene with subtilisin-like protease CDEP2 gene in acrystalliferous Bacillus thuringiensis by Red/ET homologous recombination.

A novel cDNA encoding the subtilisin-like serine protease gene CDEP2 was isolated from Beauveria bassiana by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). It contained an 1137 bp ORF that predicted a protein of 379 amino acids with M = 38863 Da and pI = 8.21. In an attempt to improve insecticidal activity, the CDEP2 gene and the cry1Ac gene from Bacillus thuringiensis were co-fused into the vector pHT315 as pHAc-CDEP2 plasmid by Red/ET homologous recombination. The co-fusion gene was attempted under the control of the native cry1Ac promoter. Plasmid pHAc-CDEP2 was electro-transformed into the B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki Cry(-)B. Analyzed by SDS-PAGE and Western blotting, the transformant Cry(-)B-pHAc-CDEP2 strain produced a 130 kDa Cry1Ac protein and 39 kDa CDEP2 protein. The 50% lethal concentration values (LC(50)) of Cry(-)B-pHAc-CDEP2 strain (8.5 microl/ml) to Helicoverpa armigera third instars larvae was clearly higher than the Cry(-)B-pHAc strain (16.7 microl/ml) at 72 h.