Screening by polymerase chain reaction of Bacillus thuringiensis serotypes for the presence of cryV-like insecticidal protein genes and characterization of a cryV gene cloned from B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki.

Polymerase chain reaction screening using cryV-specific oligonucleotides, designed to amplify the 5' half of cryV-type genes, revealed the presence of such genes in 7 of 21 Bacillus thuringiensis serotypes examined. Restriction analysis and hybridization studies indicated that these putative genes fall into at least three subclasses. The nucleotide sequence of the cryV-type gene cloned from B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki DSIR732 revealed an open reading frame coding for a protein of 719 amino acids, and lysates of Escherichia coli cells expressing the 81.2-kDa CryV732 protein were toxic to Epiphyas postvittana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae).