Making 3D-Cry Toxin Mutants: Much More Than a Tool of Understanding Toxins Mechanism of Action.

ABSTRACT: 3D-Cry toxins, produced by the entomopathogenic bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, have been extensively mutated in order to elucidate their elegant and complex mechanism of action necessary to kill susceptible insects. Together with the study of the resistant insects, 3D-Cry toxin mutants represent one of the pillars to understanding how these toxins exert their activity on their host. The principle is simple, if an amino acid is involved and essential in the mechanism of action, when substituted, the activity of the toxin will be diminished. However, some of the constructed 3D-Cry toxin mutants have shown an enhanced activity against their target insects compared to the parental toxins, suggesting that it is possible to produce novel versions of the natural toxins with an improved

SUBMITTER: Vilchez S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7551160 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature