Abstract
Upon sporulation the gram-positive bacterium, Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.), produces parasporal crystals. These crystals contain insecticidal proteins, called delta-endotoxins. Since more than thirty years B.t. preparations have been successfully used as biological insecticides. However their limited field stability and the rather narrow insecticidal spectrum of B.t. strains used in commercial formulations were important limitations to a more extensive use. With the successful expression of a B.t. delta endotoxin-gene in a tobacco plant (Vaeck et al., 1987), the possibility to apply B.t. delta-endotoxins in a totally new strategy for plant protection was demonstrated. This resulted in a new interest for the toxin from molecular biologists and biochemists.
Acknowledgements: K. Hendrickx is supported by a grant from the I.W.O.N.L. of Belgium and was supported by a FEBS travel fund
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© 1989 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Hendrickx, K., van Mellaert, H., van Rie, J., De Loof, A. (1989). Binding of A Bacillus Thuringiensis Delta Endotoxin to the Midgut of the Tobacco Hornworm (Manduca Sexta). In: Evangelopoulos, A.E., Changeux, J.P., Packer, L., Sotiroudis, T.G., Wirtz, K.W.A. (eds) Receptors, Membrane Transport and Signal Transduction. NATO ASI Series, vol 29. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-74200-2_29
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