FEMS Microbiology Letters (2005) 244, 353-358

Lobna Abdelkefi Mesrati, Slim Tounsi and Samir Jaoua (2005)
Characterization of a novel vip3-type gene from Bacillus thuringiensis and evidence of its presence on a large plasmid
FEMS Microbiology Letters 244 (2), 353-358
Abstract: A novel vip3-type gene named vip3LB has been isolated from Bacillus thuringiensis strain BUPM95. The corresponding secreted vegetative insecticidal protein was active against the lepidopteran insect Ephestia kuehniella. The vip3LB gene was shown, for the first time, to be carried by the large plasmid containing the cry1Ia genes of B. thuringiensis. The nucleotide sequence predicted a protein of 789 amino acids residues with a calculated molecular mass of 88.5 kDa. Both nucleotide and amino acid sequences similarity analysis revealed that vip3LB is a new vip3-type gene, presenting several differences with the other vip3-type genes. Heterologous expression of the vip3LB under the control of the strong promoter P_BAD was performed in Escherichia coli and the produced protein conferred insecticidal activity against Ephestia kuehniella. This novel vegetative insecticidal protein Vip3LB could be a very useful biological control agent.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Samir Jaoua, Slim Tounsi

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
molecular biology - genes

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1I-toxin (entomopathogen)
Bacillus thuringiensis Vip-toxins (entomopathogen)