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Appl. Environ. Microbiol., Dec 1996, 4367-4373, Vol 62, No. 12
Copyright © 1996, American Society for Microbiology

Engineering Bacillus thuringiensis bioinsecticides with an indigenous site-specific recombination system

JA Baum, M Kakefuda and C Gawron-Burke
Ecogen, Inc., Langhorne, Pennsylvania 19047-3023, USA. jimbaum@voicenet.com

The cry genes of Bacillus thuringiensis encode a diverse group of crystal-forming proteins that exhibit insecticidal activity, particularly against the larvae of lepidopteran, coleopteran, and dipteran insects. The efficacy of B. thuringiensis-based biopesticides may be improved through the genetic manipulation of these genes. A gene transfer system has been developed for the introduction and maintenance of cloned insecticidal cry genes on small plasmids in B. thuringiensis. This vector system combines a B. thuringiensis plasmid replicon and an indigenous site-specific recombination system that allows for the selective removal of ancillary or foreign DNA from the recombinant bacterium after introduction of the Cry-encoding plasmid. The site- specific recombination system is useful for engineering strains with unique combinations of cry genes, resulting in new active ingredients with improved insecticidal properties.

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