Identification, Toxicity and Insecticidal Protein of Bacillus thuringiensis

A special issue of Toxins (ISSN 2072-6651). This special issue belongs to the section "Bacterial Toxins".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2027 | Viewed by 917

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100193, China
Interests: resource insects; Protaetia brevitarsis; agricultural waste valorization; soil ecological restoration; insect protein production
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is primarily dedicated to exchanging research ideas and advancements on Bt insecticidal proteins. With the widespread application of Bt insecticides and insecticidal proteins in transgenic crops, while controlling pest outbreaks under the premise of ensuring ecological safety, there is an urgent need to explore new insecticidal proteins with higher activity, new insecticidal spectra, and no cross-resistance with currently widely used insecticidal proteins. We encourage researchers to publish the latest research progress and review articles here to exchange research ideas on Bt insecticidal proteins, for example, how to efficiently clone new genes, perform high-throughput expression and activity assays of insecticidal proteins, and utilize rational and irrational protein improvement technologies.

Dr. Changlong Shu
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Bacillus thuringiensis
  • insecticidal protein
  • higher activity
  • new insecticidal spectra
  • no cross-resistance
  • protein improvement

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 1708 KB  
Article
Establishment of Laboratory Bioassay System for Phyllotreta striolata Larvae and Screening of Novel Bt Cry Proteins
by Leqi Wang, Zhenyi Liu, Ivan M. Dubovskiy, Changlong Shu, Jie Zhang, Junjie Zhang, Wenmei Du and Qi Peng
Toxins 2026, 18(4), 191; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins18040191 - 20 Apr 2026
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Abstract
Phyllotreta striolata is a global pest of cruciferous vegetables, and controlling its soil-dwelling larvae is challenging. The lack of standardized larval bioassay methods hinders the screening of effective biocontrol agents. In this study, we established a stable and standardized laboratory-efficacy trial system for [...] Read more.
Phyllotreta striolata is a global pest of cruciferous vegetables, and controlling its soil-dwelling larvae is challenging. The lack of standardized larval bioassay methods hinders the screening of effective biocontrol agents. In this study, we established a stable and standardized laboratory-efficacy trial system for P. striolata larvae. Indoor rearing techniques were optimized for Brassica juncea var. foliosa and Brassica juncea var. megarrhiza were identified as the optimal host plants, with ideal oviposition conditions at 26–28 °C using black flannel substrate, and soil-cultured Brassica rapa var. pekinensis as the host plant. Based on these findings, a larval bioactivity assay was established using B. juncea var. megarrhiza slices on water-agar. This system maintained a natural larval mortality rate below 5% within 48 h, meeting the bioassay requirements. The reliability of the system was validated by evaluating the activity of the engineered Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) strain G033A against larvae, where the LC50 value decreased from 23.013 mg/mL to 7.295 mg/mL with an extended treatment time (12–48 h). Using this standardized method, novel Cry proteins with high activity against P. striolata larvae were screened. Cry8Ca and Cry8Ga proteins exhibited LC50 values of 2.243 mg/mL and 1.649 mg/mL, respectively. Full article
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